Red Sky Rising - Space for Humanity, Earth for Dragons Series - Book 1
by Marty the Martian
Summary: Many years in the future, a lifetime of boredom is about to become a new life of adventure for Blue. As the great grandson (to the 30th power) of Hiccup the Dragon Master and Astrid the Fair (but frightening), living in a cave for fifteen years was never going to satisfy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone.**

 **I managed to get this story ready to go faster than expected so here is the first chapter. This first one has a lot of last story re-cap in it just in case some readers start here, but it soon gets going with its own story. It is nice to be writing another long story so I hope you like it. :-D (Fingers crossed)**

* * *

Red Sky Rising

Life on the Belt Series

Book 1

Chapter 1

The Boy on the Mountain

" _Planets eh? What a hassle; you can't live without em,  
and you can't stop em being pelted by gigantic rocks from space"  
Professor Linton Adisa: University of Technology, Jamaica._

Time; 06:47 pm  
Date; August 18th 2085  
Location; A planet 230 million kilometres from Mars (sometimes known as Earth)

Blue sat down near the external door of the reinforced concrete monolith and gazed down onto the top of Mount Singgalang, hundreds of meters below him. His work was complete, but he did not feel like returning to the underground complex just yet. It was often at times like this when the day was almost done, when a strong feeling of accomplishment would wash over Blue and he would begin to think about the things he knew, and the things he did not know.

He knew the Earth had been decimated by an unexpected deluge of meteorites many years before he was born, and he knew more of the rocks from space would fall again in the future. He knew the population of the Earth had once been in the billions, but when he was born it down to the millions. Blue had spent his entire fifteen years of life living in a very secretive place, so he did not know how many people were left alive today, or where in the world they were living.

He knew his mother had been killed the day after his birth, but he did not know much about his father. He knew the man's name was Luis Dias and he was now on Mars, but was he still alive? Blue simply had no way of knowing and no way of finding out.

He also knew why he, along with the people who raised him, had to remain hidden from the rest of the world; it was because the trapezoidal structure where Blue was sitting, was in fact the exit port of the last remaining operational Electromagnetic Space Launch Railgun on the planet. At one time, there had been three such facilities around the equator but Blue, nor anyone else at the site, knew what had become of the other two.

* * *

The story of how the young man with the colourful name, came to be sitting high above the top of an equatorial mountain in Indonesia, really began fifty three years prior when a massive cloud of asteroid debris passed close to the Earth; many of the pieces came far too close and many people feared the end of the world had come.

The cloud had formed in the asteroid belt after two large objects, each over one hundred kilometres in diameter, destroyed each other in a very rare collision. Most of what remained later settled into an elliptical orbit between the planets of Mars and Venus, occasionally passing the orbit of Earth. The first encounter between Earth and the asteroid cloud had lasted for several days and had resulted in the destruction of almost 70% of all life.

A few months after the first bombardment was over, humanity had begun to take stock and rebuild, until it was discovered that the destructive meteorites could return at any time in the years to come as they circled the sun. When they did return, sometimes they were just lights in the sky, but some exploded in the atmosphere with great force and a few impacted on the ground. The most destruction however, came from those meteorites which struck at sea with the resulting waves travelling thousands of kilometres in every direction. Eventually it was decided; humanity must leave the planet in order to survive, although most people doubted the idea would succeed.

The passing cloud of space debris had of course, destroyed every last piece of man-made technology in Earth orbit. Science, navigation and Com sats, along with the abandoned ISS, were all nothing more than orbiting monuments to what once was. So if humanity was going to live on into the future, drastic measures would have to be taken. To this end, any and every past idea for getting large amounts of supplies and equipment out of the Earth's gravity well as quickly as possible, was resurrected and studied for viability.

One of the methods chosen for trial was the Electromagnetic Railgun and so, less than six months later, construction began on three underground complexes in West Sumatra, Kenya and Venezuela. Each of these bases were multi purposed as prototypes for the planned Mars base with living quarters, underground farms and construction facilities along with the Railgun Tunnel running from below sea level, to the top of an adjacent mountain.

Ten years later, although still far from complete, the Railguns began their task of hurling cargo payloads into orbit, assisted by Scramjets and Solid Rocket Boosters. The number of construction robots sent to the red planet soon went from dozens to hundreds and were followed eighteen months later by the first four members of the Mars Base construction crew. It was not long after their arrival on the red planet, when the trouble started back on Earth.

The plan was to build up the Mars Base over time until it could support a population of two thousand self sufficiently, with supplies sent from Earth until the goal was achieved. Most people were happy to stay and take their chances on Earth where the danger was high, but the living was easier. There were however, more than ten thousand people who did want to leave but could not. Some accepted it was their fate to stay, but others refused to do so.

Problems arose when many of these people banded together; not to seek passage to the Mars Base, but to stop it from proceeding altogether. The new group called itself the Earth First Alliance and was formed in an attempt to redirect all the efforts being put towards building the Mars colony, into a renewed push to make Earth more survivable through the construction of deep underground shelters. The leaders of the EFA would not be swayed by the argument that some of the objects orbiting in the asteroid cloud were large enough to destroy all life on Earth and make the planet uninhabitable for hundreds or even thousands of years. At first the two groups simply agreed to go their separate ways, but eventually battles broke out over the best territories and war was not far behind.

As months turned into years, more pieces of the asteroids were pulled into the Earth causing various levels of destruction while construction on Mars steadily continued. With a population of over one hundred, the initial stage of the Mars Base neared completion and the final transfer of another nineteen hundred colonists could begin. The first people to join the construction crews would be a team of biologists who had been preparing to commence the growing of food crops on Mars. The surface of the planet was no place for a farm, so the colonists planned to take advantage of ancient Martian underground caverns formed from the lava tubes of long dead volcanos. Many of these caverns had now been sealed by the construction crews and were ready to receive a new earth-like atmosphere.

April Dias had been slotted into one of the first groups of biological scientists to make the trip, but she decided to stay on Earth a little longer. She sent one of her colleagues to Mars in her place with the intent of comparing the first Mars grown crops, with the test beds in the underground railgun complex in Sumatra. Her decision did not please many of her superiors, nor did it go down well with her husband Luis, who was leaving to become one of the pilots of the Mars Transfer Vehicle (MTV).

One week after the rocket she should have been on had left the Earth, April's plan to proceed to Mars fourteen months later were thrown out the door when it was discovered she was pregnant with her first child. Even though the next opportunity for her to leave Earth would occur during her third trimester, the decision was made to send April on the MTV's next trip but fate (and her baby) had other ideas. While travelling by ship to the Sumatra site for a final inspection of the various crops being grown, April unexpectedly went into labour and gave birth to Blue.

A Medical Evac helicopter was sent to retrieve mother and child but before it could lift off, the ship came under attack from an EFA drone. April could feel the panic in the people all around her, as she was stretchered towards the waiting helicopter but at the same time, a dull calm swept over her. April knew she could not avoid being loaded onto the helicopter, but there was no way in hell she was going to risk the life of her child. Much to the surprise of her friends on the ship, April insisted they take the baby and keep him safe. Her instincts were proved to be correct a few minutes later when the helicopter was destroyed by an air to air missile fire by the attack drone.

* * *

Although Blue had known of his mother had passing for many years, only a few weeks had gone by since his fifteenth birthday when he was told the whole story about the ship and the attack drone. Ever since that day, he had begun to see his situation in a different light and had begun to weigh up his life.

Not many people in all of history knew about the large family of the Bluebird of Happiness but one of his cousins, the Pink-Headed Fruit Dove of Frustration, had been spending a lot of its time with Blue lately. So many scenarios and so many decisions made by so many people over so many years had all lead up to a young man, who could have grown up on another planet with loving parents, instead hiding out in a forgotten part of a dying world, with a group of well meaning scientists and engineers. It took a lot of thinking about but it was not leading him anywhere.

"Control room to Work Tram Four; over" a static filled voice brought Blue out of his daydream.

The young man knew what Sid was going to say before he got to his feet and answered the call.

"The relay is all fixed Sid" Blue declared into the microphone "Switching back to remote in one minute; over."

"Good; I was worried when we didn't hear from you. We don't want any bats getting in and making nests in any inconvenient places; over."

"Sorry Sid, I was just enjoying the view."

"Come on Blue, you know we can't let the sun go down with the doors still open; the lights could be seen for miles in every direction."

"Packing up now, I'll be back in twenty minutes; out."

After hanging up the microphone, Blue returned to the junction box he had been working on and returned all switches to their normal operating positions. In less than ten seconds the massive door began to close just as Blue noticed the tool bag he had left where he was sitting and thinking.

"Oh crap" he declared and dashed over to retrieve the bag before the door could push it out over the edge.

Even though he had spent his life inside the railgun complex, Blue still had the opportunity to see many old Hollywood films, where the hero had to reach back to get something important before he was crushed by a closing door or dropping stone. It was not that way for Blue as the door slowly swung around giving him plenty of time to pick up the tool bag and get out of the way. Still, it was the most exciting thing to have happened to him all day, all week and for his entire life.

If Blue could only see the Pink-Headed Fruit Dove of Frustration, he probably would have strangled it.

* * *

 **As I often say at times like this, "So it begins and life will never be the same." Many people are saying the same thing after the recent elections.**

 **Next chapter introduces some new character in space and is quite short so I'll have it up in a few days.**

 **Bye for now.**


	2. Chapter 2

**As promised, here is the (short) 2** **nd** **chapter early. Thanks midnighsky0612 and Stripesicles222 for being the first reviewers (they let you have your mobile phone during a chemistry test?)**

* * *

Chapter 2

The Couple in the Spaceship

 _It has been said 'In space no one can hear you scream.' So what? No one can hear you laugh, cry, fart or sing bawdy sea shanties either._

It looked a little bit like a mini submarine and a lot like a Winnebago with a weight problem. But to the people who made use of the machine, it was simply the Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV). There was a docking port on each side of the small ship and two manipulator arms on its nose beneath the cockpit windows that when extended, looked like the pincers of a small shrimp. In spite of its odd looks, to Lieutenant Jarred Kinderman the SEV was the ultimate sports utility vehicle; responsive and manoeuvrable with wicked acceleration. These attributes were vitally important when working in high Earth orbit. In the past, the greatest threats to people in space were solar radiation and the possibility of a micro meteorite punching a hole in a ship, habitat or space suit. The situation was very different now thanks to the years of bombardment from the asteroid cloud orbiting the sun.

It was not only the Earth that had taken a pounding over time, for without an atmosphere to give some protection the Moon had been turned into (if you will pardon the expression) Swiss cheese. This meant Earth no longer had one natural satellite, but millions made from bits of asteroid and bits of Moon; not to mention the non-natural pieces of satellite and remnants of space station. As an Astronaut, Lieutenant Kinderman was of course highly trained with lightning reflexes, but no human could ever hope to react fast enough to save the ship if a deadly chunk of something should trip the proximity alarm.

To this end, the SEV collision avoidance system was completely automatic and controlled by the ships computer. If the proximity alarm sounded, anyone in the ship would have less than a second to brace themselves before an emergency firing of the hypergolic fuelled rocket engine moved the SEV out of harms way with all speed. Lieutenant Kinderman had never experienced such a manoeuvre, but Major Luis Dias like to tell everyone about the time it happened to him, along with a graphic description of the resulting bruises.

"Have you got that last capsule yet?"

"Don't hassle me woman; I'm getting there."

The berating voice came from Kindermans wife as she waited somewhat impatiently for him to complete his task, while she sat at the controls of the Main Drive section of the Mars Transfer vehicle.

"If you'd let me take the SEV out, we would be done by now" Ruth smugly declared.

"Yeah well you did it last time; it was my turn."

"Hmmm, I suppose you would never improve as an SEV pilot, if I didn't let you have a go occasionally" Ruth Kinderman smirked.

"One of these days Alice..." Jarred smiled.

The Downy Woodpecker of Intense Concentration picked at a loose thread on Lieutenant Kinderman's T-shirt collar as he moved the last supply capsule slowly into position and with a bump, a whir and a hiss; the module was drawn in and sealed onto the airlock.

"Confirm second stage of capture; we have a hard dock."

He had done this manoeuvre so many times over the last fifteen years that in spite of his wife's playful putdowns, he honestly believed he could have retrieved the supply unit blindfolded, although he was not about to attempt such a feat. With the completion of this final external task, it was now time to rejoin his small ship with the MTV so the long trip home could begin. The SEV looked quite odd with a bulbous capsule attached to the ports on each side behind the flight deck and some pilots even referred to it as the Dumbo Configuration. With his latest task now complete, Kinderman set the navigation computer on a course back to the Earth/Sun Lagrange point known as L2 where Ruth waited with the MTV and thirty four other supply capsules bound for Mars.

"Have you got the pod manifests downloaded yet?" Ruth asked.

"Just a sec" Jarred replied as he continued work on the computer.

With the navcom set, he brought the engine up to 5% thrust so as not to over stress the side docking ports. Satisfied the seals would hold, Jarred changed the monitor screen and interfaced with the cargo capsules onboard systems.

"I'm sending the manifests now" he broadcast to the MTV as he sent the information Ruth had requested.

Jarred continued monitoring the SEV acceleration for a few minutes until Ruth's voice on the ship to ship communicator broke his concentration.

"Have you looked at the list you sent me dear?"

"Not yet" Jarred admitted, as he type the command to change screens again.

"Your last load, added to what we've already got on the MTV, gives us almost everything needed to commence construction of a second Mars colony" Ruth noted.

Ideas about the possibilities filled Jarred's head as he scanned the list in front of him while his wife filled in the gaps.

"We've got three stocked surface habitats, four robotic diggers, two excavators, two... no three additive builders and two parts printers. Not to mention several months of supplies for a crew of four along with closed system life support" Ruth noted.

"If April Dias can get council permission on this, the only thing left to do would be to finalise the site before we get back to Mars" Jarred smiled, almost laughing.

"I'm prepping a message to her now" Ruth replied.

It took almost a full day for the SEV to get back to L2 and another few hours to transfer the collected capsules to the main body of the MTV, but all the Kindermans efforts eventually fell into place and they were able to fire up the four 500 watt VASIMR main engines and begin the return journey to Mars. As the ship began to increase its velocity, a pen Ruth had left hanging near the bridge computer, began to float slowly towards the rear of the cabin until it lightly tapped Jarred on the head. He slipped the pen into his top left pocket and himself into the empty seat next to his wife who was still pouring over the thirty six manifests on the screen in front of her. Acceleration was slow but consistent and would continue for a few weeks; if there were no problems with the nuclear power source. Jarred did not expect any trouble but he still kept a close eye on the reactors output. All in all the MTV was in pretty good shape for a twenty seven year old space tug.

* * *

 **Just in case anyone was wondering, my list of 'The Birds of Emotion and Circumstance' currently stands at eight, but seems to grow every few chapters.**

 **Next chapter in about a week, bye for now**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hopefully this chapter will help explain some things that caused problems last time (or will take confusion to a whole new level).  
**

* * *

Chapter 3

Dead Woman Walking

 _Mars is definitely the place to be. I once went to a five star restaurant on the Moon; it had great food but no atmosphere._

Deep underground in the Mars Base colony, head of Xenobiology April Dias was hurrying past too many people in a corridor not built to handle their number.

"Here at last" she gasped as she slid open the door to the councils outer office and almost fell inside.

"APRIL WAIT!" Luis called out for about the fifteenth time.

He had just chased his wife halfway across the complex for the last ten minutes. Prior to this pursuit, Luis was happily helping their two daughters with their studies while April worked on the last month's crop growth figures. Suddenly a message had popped up in the corner of her computer screen causing April to literally squeal with joy before she stuffed two tablet screens in a satchel and ran out the front door.

"You girls stay here" Luis barked as he followed his wife "Abigail is in charge so Saffy, you listen to your sister."

Both young girls stared wide eyed as their father hurried off before they looked back at each other.

"Okay then if you're in charge, do you think we've done enough study for today?" Saffron asked.

"Yes; yes I do. I have to go to Spaceflight Training in ten minutes anyway so till then..." Abigail grinned as she arose to put some loud music on.

"LET'S BOOGIE!"

Luis did not manage to catch up to his wife until she finally stopped running at the council offices but when he did, she was quite surprised to see him.

"You followed me?" she asked "Why didn't you wait with the girls?"

"Oh Dios mío April; you ran off without a word" he exclaimed still slightly out of breath.

"Did I? Sorry about that but I have to talk to Olive urgently" she smirked as she continued walking into the outer office.

"But why dearest; is something wrong?"

"Oh no babe" April declared as she approached a computer terminal and began to type her request to see Olive Roux "In fact, things are looking up."

When April had completed her message, she pressed enter and began typing another to Florian Klein. With the second message done and sent she led her husband to a couch by the wall and handed him one of the tablets from her satchel.

"Take a butchers at this" she said.

Luis often had trouble understanding his wife's strange British slang terms, but it was quite obvious she wanted him to read what was just put into his hand. The screen was divided into two columns with the wide one on the left of screen containing a list of items needed printed in black, while the narrow right column simply had a colour and a number. Most of the items had a green square alongside them but as Luis scrolled down, he saw several were yellow and a few were red. As his mind began to link the meaning of the different items, he realised he was looking at a copy of the original supply list of all thing sent to Mars ahead of the first construction crew.

"This list makes it look like you want to start another colony" Luis noted as the Wood Duck of Curiosity began pecking at his head.

"Well there's a perfectly logical explanation for that babe."

"Oh, and what is it?"

"I want to start another colony" April grinned.

"You're leaving me? Whatever I've done wrong dearest, I promise I can change."

"Don't be silly" April punched Luis playfully on the arm "you and the girls would come too."

"Just the four of us?"

"Luis, are you trying to annoy me or is it just working out that way?"

"I'm trying to find out what is going on inside that extremely gorgeous little head of yours."

"I suppose you'd better come in when we talk to Olive then, but don't you interrupt and ask silly questions."

Luis gave his wife a surprised 'Who, me?' kind of look as the door from the corridor slid opened and Florian Klein stepped in; April was not pleased to see he was alone.

"Why isn't Professor Topolski with you" she snapped.

"Don't worry April" Florian tried to calm her "he just stopped off at his classroom for his base notes. Do you know how long we will have to wait before we get in?"

"And good afternoon to you too Florian" Luis interrupted.

"Sorry Luis but April jumped down my throat as soon as I walked in."

"Look here, I'm a bit on edge right now so give me some slack" April explained "And Luis; behave yourself."

"Yes dearest" he smirked.

April and Florian compared notes for a few minutes until another man appeared from an inner office.

"Sorry to keep you waiting but we weren't really expecting any new business today" Vikram Mandal said honestly. "The council are just finishing up discussion on the Chicken Report."

"Did he just say what I think he say?" Luis asked his wife as the Rockhopper Penguin of Confusion laid an egg at his feet.

"One of the plant monitors in sector 7G wants to allow some chickens to roam free inside the Mars Soil Crop Tunnels, to see if there is any obvious differences in the levels of plant growth" April explained. "I did one of the risk/benefit analysis reports."

"Why would chickens be a risk? No wait; I don't want to know."

It was at time such as these when Luis Dias wished he was back on the Mars Transfer Vehicle.

"Sometimes I wish I was back on the Mars Transport Vehicle" he lamented.

"If you would all come this way" Vikram motioned.

At April's request, Luis waited in the outer office for Professor Topolski while the others went inside. While the group had only requested to see Council Chief Olive Roux, those who had been discussing the chicken report also remained seated and patiently waited to hear what April, Florian Klein and Topolski had to tell them' and so, Florian began.

"Over one hundred years ago, America had wrapped up its Apollo Moon Programme, the Soviet Union was developing technology for extended living in space with the Salyut space stations, and the launch systems of Asia and Europe were still only in their early stages. If we had been unfortunate enough to have encountered the Solf-4 Meteorites at that time, I think it is safe to say that the human race would have been facing inevitable extinction."

"I've got a feeling I know where you're going with this" Sage interrupted with a sigh.

"We have to face up to the facts Commander" April cut in. "Seismic event, viral outbreak, another meteorite; if something disastrous were to happen here on Mars, the entire project would fail and the human race would cease to exist."

"So I assume you're saying you want to start a second Mars base" Sage huffed.

"Commander, please!" Olive Roux attempted to stave off a fast approaching argument, but it was soon apparent Commander Sage was itching for a fight.

"I'm sorry Premiere but we've been through this before and nothing has changed since the last time. If we put people and resources on another site before we're ready..."

"I feel sure we are ready Commander" April took her turn to interrupt.

"And I suppose you think Martian gravity, lack of atmosphere and sand storms are just An INCONVENIENCE!"

"Sit down Commander Sage... and lower your voice" the Premier ordered through gritted teeth.

"I have been living here for almost twenty years Commander so I think I know what I'm talking about."

"THAT'S A LOAD OF CRAP! YOU AND THESE OTHER EGGHEADS HAVE BEEN LIVING IN THIS AIR CONDITIONED COMPLEX SINCE THE DAY YOU ARRIVED. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE OUT THERE" Sage shouted as the Morepork of Blind Rage battled furiously with the Pelican of Everything going Down the Toilet.

He certainly would not have dared talk to April in that way if Luis had been in the room.

"Maybe she doesn't, but I do" Florian noted.

Commander Neville Sage fumed as he sank back in his seat. He had been so enraged by his ongoing battle with the head biologist, he had completely forgotten about the German man standing in front of him who had been a member of the first human crew to arrive on Mars. Back in the early days, the base was nothing more than a haphazard construction site, littered with supply landers, dead construction robots and dropped materials along with a few blackened sites where the cargo landers had failed to soft land.

At that very moment, Luis finally arrived with Professor Topolski. Luis could see the fury in April's eyes so it was plain to see the discussion had not gone well so far.

"Hello everyone" Topolski greeted while blissfully unaware of the tension in the room "Sorry to have kept you waiting, but I wanted to be sure I had everything ready to show you."

And so for the next twenty two and a half minutes, Sage bit his tongue while the good professor outlined the needs and advantages of commencing construction on a second Mars Base. All the other council members appeared to listen with open minds but as Florian caught Council Head Roux's eye and saw the look on her face, he realised there was still a long way to go before they would get their plans approved.

Florian also noticed the look of anger on April's face and he felt sorry for Luis, considering what awaited him when the couple arrived home later in the evening.

* * *

 **Good news: Today I finally worked out how Blue will learn about his heritage.**

 **Bad news: You won't find out till about chapter 31. (Evil laugh)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello and welcome to the latest 'Character Introduction' chapter (it is also originally part of the first draft written about a year ago).**

 **I haven't gotten much feedback yet (except from Stripesicles222 and midnightsky0612) but as long as the readership doesn't drop below zero, I'll keep going with it. Who am I kidding; the readership could drop to -50 and I'd keep posting it ;-D  
**

* * *

4 The Girl on the Sailboat

" _We know you have a choice of planets when deciding on a place for habitation and we would like to thank you for choosing Earth for all your life giving needs."_

The sea was never predictable and although the rough weather had caught the trio of sailors off guard, it was nothing the Star Runner and its small crew could not handle.

"PULL DOWN THE TRYSAIL; WE'LL RUN WITH THE JIB" Captain Maynard Linwood bellowed forward, trying to be heard above the wind.

The two siblings stumbled their way forward to carry out their father's order, just as the bow of the yacht crashed into the next wave and heave up. Emerson fell heavily onto the deck as his thirteen year old sister walked over him as if he wasn't there; he was really starting to get annoyed with her.

"Haven't you got your sea legs yet?" Calla's laughter carried on the wind.

Treading on his back was the last straw for Emerson. Being four years her senior meant he had been caring for Calla and looking out for her ever since she was a baby, but now she treated him like literal dirt under her feet. He decided then and there, her time was up and he would give back as much as he had taken from her. His revenge would start when they met up with all Callas friends back in Darwin. Emerson would tell them all about how seasick she had been when they had first left Kawhia Harbour, New Zealand several months ago.

Ah... sibling revenge; it could be so sweet.

"Do you hear that?" Maynard asked his children when they returned to the helm.

They both listened intently and soon noticed the distinct rolling crash.

"Breakers!" Emerson realised and hurried back to the bow.

The young man turned his head from left to right, desperately trying to get a proper bearing on the distant sound. If only the sea mist would dissipate a little, he could have gained a more visual confirmation.

"It seems to be coming from about thirty degrees to port" Emerson called out to his father.

Maynard Linwood checked the compass mounted by the rear hatch and pondered the direction of the crashing waves. The yacht should be only a few kilometers from West Sumatra so if the breakers were off the port side, then they must have slipped inside a reef or were approaching a headland. The wind was coming from the northeast so heading for shore seemed to be the only option. It was also the best hope of finding some relief from the high wind before night fell.

"Get forward" he ordered his son "and let me know as soon as you see any sign of land."

The deck of the forty foot cruising yacht heaved and rolled, but Maynard's instincts had proven correct and within ten minutes, the wind and waves dropped slightly as the Star Runner drew closer to land. The off shore wind was a godsend as the mountain ranges of West Sumatra gave the boat some much needed relief while they sought out a good spot to make shore.

"I can see a high cliff through the mist" Emerson informed his family "twenty degrees starboard."

"Let's see if we can sail around the far side and find some shelter" Calla suggested to her father.

"Way ahead of you" Maynard grinned as he turned the ships wheel.

The small crew were soon gaining more relief from the strong wind as they sailed closer to the huge wall looming up in front of them. They could still hear the howl of the wind, but it was now high above them and not hitting the boat head on. The waves gradually dropped to about five feet and the sea mist cleared a little as they drew even closer.

"Dad... I don't think that's a cliff face" Calla eventually noted.

The reality of her observation hit home to the others as their yacht was soon dwarfed by the looming hull of a gigantic ship. The waves almost disappeared completely as the Star Runner rounded the stern and drifted slowly along the vessels portside. It felt good to be protected in the leeward side of the ship and the air was much clearer now, but the sun had begun to set behind them so Maynard knew their time was short; they needed to drop anchor soon or make for shore.

"Get the spotlight son" he ordered.

Emerson slid open the main hatch dropped down into the galley. He retrieved a handheld spotlight from a side cupboard and unwound the power cord.

"What... is it?" the young man voiced what his sister also wondered as the bright spotlight pierced the remaining mist and lit up the side of the ship.

"It looks like a Supertanker" his father replied "They were used to carry crude oil... and this one looks like it could have held about half a billion litres or more. It must have run ashore over twenty years..."

Maynard was stopped mid sentence when the Star Runner suddenly lurched to starboard with a loud bang. Emerson barely managed to avoid falling again as he swung the light forward to where the port bow had struck a glancing blow against a steel beam rising up out of the water in front of them.

"EMERSON; MASTHEAD!" Maynard cried out.

Without waiting for his son to react to the order, the captain of the small vessel reached down and unclipped a bargepole before rushing forward. He slammed the poles end into a corner of the intrusive beam and pushed hard; both slowing and redirecting the yachts progress.

"TWO FEET" Emerson called as he lit up the highest point of the vessel.

Quick thinking may have saved the mast from being damaged by the overhead beam, but Maynard was too late to prevent the main forestay from being cut by the rusted and jagged metal overhead. With a loud twang it snapped and fell to the deck.

"Damn it!" he cursed "Turn off the spotlight for a minute."

As the crews eyes adjusted to the evening light, they saw a massive, right angled triangular metal frame high above them. It protruded from the port side of the ship at the same level as the deck and at its furthest point from the ship; the frame met the vertical steel beam that the boat had struck just a moment ago. It was part of a vertical frame that held what appeared to be some kind of adjustable leg, extending to the sea floor and keeping the giant ship stable.

"I can see a ladder running up the middle of the frame" Calla pointed out.

"Hmm... yes" her father pondered before baking out more orders "Drop the fenders Calla and after you've set them, go grab our packs and some torches. Emerson, you tie off the bow while I get the stern rope."

With daylight fading fast, the crew of the Star Runner quickly secured their vessel to the support leg. The trio of explorers took great care in transferring themselves from the yacht to the ladder before they proceeded to climb cautiously up the leg frame. The ladder was showing obvious signs of age but was still quite solid in spite of the surface rust. At the top they found a set of steep steps running along the inside the frame triangular section, leading up to the top of the hull. When they finally reached the ship's exposed deck, the small party found themselves once again battling the strong wind, but the ship did not seem to be moving even the tiniest amount.

"Dad... did all big ships like this have these kind of... support leg thingies attached to their midship hulls?" Maynard's son asked.

"I haven't known of anything this big being built during my life time Emerson, but at a guess I'd say no; they most certainly did not. Watch your step and let's go check the starboard side."

The light of day was almost gone bit the rising Moon offered some illumination of the seventy meter wide deck. Calla stuck close to her father as the three set off; she had been on ships many times before but had never seen one as big, or encountered anything as disturbing. Everything around her was silhouetted in the evening light giving the entire place an extremely unnatural and ominous feel. In the centre of the deck was a long spine of pipelines running fore and aft forcing the intruders to crawl under as they slowly made their way to the far side of the ship.

"Well I can't say I'm surprised" Maynard declared when they found a similar support frame on the opposite hull.

"D-do you think there's anyone h-here Dad?" Calla asked nervously.

"Turn off your torches and we'll see" her father replied.

The early evening sky was well lit by the rising three quarter moon and as he looked up at the ships superstructure, Maynard could see no visible light emitting from any doors or windows.

"It appears to be deserted, but that too is hardly surprising. Let's check out the cabins; we'll probably find somewhere to sleep in there."

"And maybe even some clues about this ship" Emerson added.

"We might even find some really cool gear too, if we're lucky" Calla grinned.

"I'm just hoping we can find someplace safe to spend the night" Emerson decided "This thing is nice and stable and I'm sick of trying to sleep while rolling around below deck on the Star Runner."

"Hmmm... stable" Maynard considered how puzzling his son's words were.

* * *

 **As is usual for this time of year, I'm listening to music about cosy fires, sleigh bells and snow while sitting close to the air conditioner and using lots of sunscreen lotion.**

 **A happy Christmas season to all my friends up north who are slowly turning blue while we down here are rapidly turning red (time to put more ice in my lemonade).**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sunday the 4** **th** **of Dec. is my 53rd birthday and so I want 53 reviews as my gift.**

 **I am not going to insist on this though; if you wish, you may instead donate $53.00 to Save the Children (a much more worthwhile cause than Review the Story).**

* * *

Chapter 5

Whom Can You Trust?

 _For the person with no cookie, half a cookie is better than no cookie at all. But for the guy who had the cookie to start with, half a cookie ends up being better than a whole cookie?_

 _Or in other words,_ " _Let's compromise and do what I want."  
_

* * *

"SOMETIMES I WISH I COULD JUST THROW THAT MAN OUT OF AN AIRLOCK!"

April also wished she could slam the door to her home, but the mechanism just wouldn't allow it.

"Calm down dearest, nobody was taking Commander Sage's objections seriously" Luis spoke softly.

"And as for you, why didn't you jump in and defend me?"

"I wasn't there when it happened" Luis stated.

"That's no excuse; oh don't look at me like that" April never could stay angry at Luis when he gave her the sad eyes.

"I am on your side in this matter April, but Commander Sage is still my superior officer."

"I know Luis" she conceded "and as a civilian I have certain freedoms that you don't have. Like the freedom to tell Sage to TAKE HIS PATRONISING ATTITUDE AND..."

"Mom?"

April was suddenly very glad she had not finished that thought, as her youngest daughter appeared at the living room hatchway.

"Mommy has had a hard day Saffy" Luis informed the young girl as he picked her up "Why don't we let her have a little rest while you and I go to your room? You can tell me what you've been up to with your friends today."

"Nice try Dad" Saffron Dias kissed her father's cheek "but I think Mom has a few more things to say before she lets you leave."

"I know dear, that's why I think we should go now."

"Put the child down and step away from the door" April ordered.

"She's doing the police voice again Dad."

"Go Saffy... save yourself."

The nine year old scampered back to the room she shared with her older sister, to make the most of the time she had until Abigails return from flight training.

"Some of the other department heads agree with you too" Luis noted as he sat on the couch and put his arm around Aprils shoulder.

"I know it's a massive risk, but we can't stay in one place forever" April sighed.

She leant into her husband and placed her head on his chest. The warmth of his body and beat of his heart had the most amazingly calming effect on her.

"We will expand... all over Mars and eventually, off world too."

"Yes I know Luis, but I'm afraid we've been putting it off for far too long. The Mars base started construction when I was still in diapers and thirty five years later, all we've got is this and an orbiting station."

"Fabrication facilities are progressing well, so we will be able to increase surface construction and power transfer. That will make surface travel easier and then there will be nothing to stop us expanding to other sites."

"What you are talking about could take another ten years Luis" April sighed.

"And that would be too long to wait; you are right, I know."

"How's Abigail doing in flight training?" April changed the subject much to Luis' delight.

"Wonderful dearest; in fact far beyond everyones expectations."

"So your little incentive did the trick then?"

Before Luis could say any more, a soft chime sounded to indicate an incoming call."

"I'll get it" Luis offered "you... breathe deeply and... think about puppies or... something like that."

April did close her eyes and take a deep breath, but it was not the thought of puppies or kittens that brought relaxation. She could not explain why and would never admit it to anyone, but she like to imagine fire breathing dragons frolicking in an evergreen forest; she even imagined one of the dragons eating the Yellow Warbler of Disappointment."

"Aaaaaahhh" she smiled to herself.

"Good evening Major" the face of Premier Olive Roux smiled back from the computer screen.

"Hello Ms. Roux; you err... wish to speak with April?"

"Yes but how are you doing? I hope todays meeting hasn't ruined your rare family visit."

"All will be well Premier, April is being very understanding."

"She can hear you, can't she?"

"Yes I can Olive" April rose up from the couch.

"I've got some news dear" the Premier offered "Something for you to sleep on and discuss with your colleagues."

"I'm not going to like it, am I?" April asked suspiciously.

"I just hope you don't hate it" Roux held up her crossed fingers.

Luis got up from the desk and stood behind April as she sat.

"Alright Olive, I'm listening."

"Your concerns are completely justified and I share your belief about the risk we are taking by having only one colony site on Mars, but I also believe there is just too much risk associated with the commencement of a second colony at this time. You both know how close we came to failure during the early days of this base, it's a big part of our history and we only pulled through thanks to timely supplies from Earth. So before work commences on a second site, we need to be sure this base is completely and absolutely self-sufficient so it can provide all support needed to a second site without any help from the ol' home planet. Every supply shipment from Earth is still needed here at Base One and we cannot risk the loss of experienced people and vital equipment should anything go awry during the initial phase of Base Two construction."

"So that's it? Not much for us to discuss Olive."

"Wait April, a new idea has been put forward by one of the councillors. Up till now, we have concentrated all our efforts into expanding the underground portion this base in all directions like an expanding balloon. But in light of the concerns you and many others have put to me, I've decided to give serious thought to a new plan; a new direction."

"Go on" April wondered what was coming.

"If you can get me the backing of most department heads, I could give the order to reposition two of the tunnel boring machines on the western side of the base, two hundred and fifty meters apart and at depth of five hundred meters below the surface. All future expansion would be from these two parallel tunnels both going in a single direction. Cross access tunnels would be installed every thousand meters and surface access tunnels would be built every ten kilometers with all future fabrication, storage and agriculture facilities to be built along their length. After the construction has progressed far enough, ten meter double airlock doors would be fitted to each tunnel so they could be sealed off if there were a catastrophic incident inside the main base. Single airlocks would be installed every twenty kilometers to reduce risk even more."

"It's not a perfect solution" April noted

"True, but it does increase the possibility of disaster survivability."

"Not straight away, it wouldn't."

"But we are talking months instead of years" Olive Roux insisted.

"There would be a lot more to talk about in planning."

"I can set aside as much time as you need to go over the details. By concentrating almost all future expansion in this way April, we would still be a single base but with the opportunity to use distance as a protection measure."

"I'll sleep on it Olive and get back to you in the morning."

"Make it lunch time; talk to the other department heads in the morning. I'll send you details so you can make an informed decision together."

"Thanks Olive... goodnight."

"Goodnight April, love to the kids."

Premier Roux smiling face turned into one of extreme anger as she turned from the blank screen to face Commander Sage.

"Well I've fixed another one of your blunders; one of your MANY blunders."

"I don't know why you think you have to placate these idiots all the time" Sage huffed.

"These people are not the kind to take orders blindly Commander; they are used to recognising problems and looking for solutions, so you can't just order them to look the other way and forget about the risks they see staring them in the face."

"But..."

"NO BUTS; if anyone living and working here felt like they weren't being heard and taken seriously, then they are the kind of people who would look into the perceived problem on their own. Now if anyone were to look closely into our situation, it is always possible they would discover something you and I don't want them to know. I honestly thought the Earth would be dead by now, so we have to make sure no one has an opportunity to make any unauthorised contact. A base on the other part of the planet would make it almost impossible to control outside communication."

Roux could see by the look on his face, Commander Sage would follow her advice under protest only. Not exactly the best position to be in, but better than the inevitable verbal war.

"Don't worry Sage; we still need Dias and her friends for now, but the Earth can't keep dodging those meteors forever and when the end finally comes, we can let them all go as far away as they want."

"And good riddance to them too" Commander Sage crossed his arms and sneered while being mimicked by the Toucan of Defiance on his head.

* * *

 **I think I may get myself a birthday gift by having my laptop fixed. Then I can write more HTTYD stories on my travels. I've got a few more short story ideas but after the trouble I had getting the last one off the laptop and onto the FanFic site, I don't feel confident enough to write them yet just in case they end up getting lost in the incomprehensible cyber world.**

 **I am such a Luddite.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, tomorrow it's Happy Birthday to me as I turn 53. Ruth and Jarred called and invited me to dinner at a Sri Lankan restaurant (not the Astronauts in the story, the real ones they are named after). So tomorrow I will be a little older and a little fatter.**

6 A Night on a Haunted Ship

The closer the family came to the rear of the ship, the more Calla could feel the tension rising inside her. The first door they found on the starboard side was slightly ajar but when Maynard tried to push it open, he found the hinges were corroded and completely seized. With a little effort, he managed to squeeze his way around the door and shone his torch along the passage.

Inside it was dry, but there was the distinct aroma of moisture and rot in the air. A passage stretched away before him with doors leading off on his right side. Inside the first doorway was a stairwell with steps going up into the superstructure.

"Looks fairly safe" Maynard told his children.

Emerson and Calla followed their father around the immovable door and up the first flight of metal stairs. Most of the cabins and compartments they passed on the lower decks were by no means empty, but were mostly strewn with useless and broken junk. None of the cabins yielded anything of interest and most of them smelled horrid. The galley had been totally stripped of all burners, cooking utensils and ovens, and the officer's quartes had been trashed a long time ago. It was clear that looters had once gone through the ship searching for anything useful.

Eventually the three explorers found the bridge and the adjacent captain's cabin. These locations had also been ransacked, but Maynard still turned up some very interesting discoveries. In amongst the mess was the captain's safe; abandoned, looted and left wide open. Papers and logbooks the looters must have considered worthless, lay strewn on a writing desk and all across the floor.

"We'll bed down here for the night" Maynard declared.

At their father's direction, Emerson started clearing out the Captains sitting room at the back of the wheelhouse while Calla retrieved any bedding she could find in reasonable condition and not crumpled on the floor. As they worked, Maynard took the opportunity to clear off a desk in the chart room and sort out some of the logs and manifests; he held high hopes of discovering some kind of revealing and useful information within those papers.

After about an hour, Maynard's eyes were beginning to droop from reading so much by LED lantern. Calla and Emerson had heated up some of their supply of canned beef and vegetable soup on a small gas camping burner, and the aroma from the next room was simply too much for Maynard to ignore.

"If all goes well, we should find some fresh food on shore tomorrow morning" Emerson lightened the sombre mood as his father sat down on the floor.

"Tropical fruit would be good" Calla nodded "but more seafood? Not so much."

The contents of the small pot began to bubble so Emerson stopped stirring and tuned down the blue flame. He did not need to make any request for help as his eager sister held out the first bowl. As soon as the chunky soup had been served, Calla passed it to her father and picked up the other two bowls. All conversation ceased for the next ten minutes as the crew of the Star Runner enjoyed their first meal on a steady surface in many days.

"What have you found in all those papers you've been pouring through Dad?" Emerson eventually asked.

"A lot of deceiving information and inconceivable acronyms" Maynard replied "But one thing is certain; the only oil in this tanker was its own fuel."

"Maybe we should go exploring down below" Calla suggested eagerly.

"Not until the sun is up again, so wind up your torches to a full charge and then get some sleep. I'm going to have another look at those manifests."

"Okay Dad" Calla sighed and began to create a little sleeping space for herself in the corner.

Emerson helped his sister clean up while Maynard returned to the chart room to do some more study. Half an hour later, the confused captain put down a logbook he had just flicked through and thought deeply about what he had seen in its pages. No matter how hard he tried to make sense of it all, he definitely had more questions than answers."

"I've found a couple of..." Emerson started but then whispered when he saw his father raise a finger to his lips.

"...pillows."

Emerson had been looking through some nearby cabins and did not notice Calla had moved into the chart room to be with her father. The young girl was now sleeping soundly on an old couch while Maynard continued to pour though the piles of paper on the table. Emerson carefully lifted his sister's head and slipped one of the pillows under it before offering the other to his father.

"No, I'm fine" he waved off the offer.

"So have you worked out what the ship was carrying?" Emerson spoke softly.

"At a guess, I'd say it was a ship load of acronyms. Do you know what S.R.B. stands for?"

"Hmm... Seventy Rampaging Buffalo?" Emerson offered.

"I highly doubt that."

"Singing Round a Bonfire perhaps."

"I think it means Seriously Remedial Brother" Calla chimed in.

"I thought you were asleep" Emerson huffed.

"With you whispering like a fog horn?" she sniffed "Whatcha reading Dad?"

"I think it's the ships manifest; a list of the cargo it was carrying."

"So definitely not an oil tanker then?" Calla yawned.

"No sweetie, but... oh!" Maynard stopped when his reading light suddenly went dull as its charge finally gave out.

"Here ya go Dad" Emerson the swapped the dying lantern for his torch.

"The young man sat back down next to his sister on the couch, folded out the crank handle of the light and began to charge it up as his father continued reading.

"Many of these manifests have the names of companies I've never heard of; Ad Astra, Blue Origin, Thales Alenia.

"Could be anything" Emerson shrugged.

"Here's one I recognise, Boeing; they used to make aircraft."

"So the ship was carrying planes?" Calla asked.

"Or something even more bazaar, listen to these names; SNC Space Systems, Orbital ATK, Arianespace, Aerojet Rocketdyne and more. These papers mention things like E.P.D's, P.A.M's, E.S.S.M's, Centripedal Rings..."

"CENTIPEDES!?" Calla flinched.

"Cen-tri-pe-dal" Maynard repeated "There's even something called a Rapid Pulse Plasma Borer."

"Not to mention S.R.B's" Emerson added.

"Forget your S.R.B's" Calla declared excitedly "That plasma thingy sounds interesting; I wonder if it's still on the ship."

"I seriously doubt there is anything of value left anywhere on this ship" her father noted "The cabins look like they were looted years ago. The hull would be sitting much lower in the water if the hold was full, but we'll see when we check it out in the morning. So let's try and get some sleep for now."

"I wonder how Mom is doing" Calla thought out loud as she lay back down and closed her eyes.

"I'm sure she's fine dear; we'll hook up the radio and see if we can contact her sometime tomorrow."

"Thanks Dad" Calla smiled as she drifted off.

The weather was very humid and although the temperature dropped a little during the night, it was not enough to make sleep very comfortable. It felt good to lie on a surface that wasn't moving, but everything still seemed to be gently rocking back and forth inside Calla's head; a few days at sea will do that to a body. She slept quite soundly but bedding down an hour or so after sunset meant she was fully rested and waking up well before sun rise. The sound of scurrying rats did not help matters either (rats; why did it have there have to be rats).

 **And the good news is... I did get the laptop seen to and so I've started a new HTTYD epic.**

 **Bye for now, Marty.**


	7. Chapter 7

**And so we return to the Railgun Complex once again to see what's going down with Blue. Hope you like :-D**

* * *

Chapter 7

The Next Mission

"You seem very distant this morning Blue; I bet you've been staring at the world from the top of the Silencer again" Sarah noted as she cleared away the breakfast dishes.

It was definitely Blues turn to clean up, but his pseudo mother could tell his mind was off on another planet or two. The young man had been silent for at least fifteen minutes and had even ignored the cat rubbing the top of its head against his shoe.

"Hmm" was the only statement Blue would give in reply.

"If you don't give Jeffery some attention soon, you're gonna feel his claws on your leg."

Blue was fully aware of the wisdom in Sarah's warning; Jeffery the Jingle Cat had no qualms about drawing human blood just to get his head scratched the way he liked it. Considering his desire to leave all his red corpuscles inside his body, Blue reached down and picked up his feline roommate and his mood began to soften as the cat settled down in his arms, purring and snuggling.

"I thought I saw some smoke" he volunteered at last "down in the eastern valley."

"Probably just a lightning strike" Sarah noted "I feel pretty sure we're the only people in Sumatra, if not all of Southeast Asia."

"Why not the entire planet" Blue declared with venom in his voice.

"I sure there are still people on the larger land masses."

"Yeah but they may as well be on Mars too if we have to remain hidden."

The feelings of frustration Blue expressed were not new and he was not the only person in the railgun complex to have them. But he was the only person who would talk openly about these feelings and he was expressing them more and more as he grew. The morning clean up proceeded with very little being said and the only sound heard during their walk to Store 7, was the soft cheerful tinkling of the bell on Jeffery's collar as he trotted along behind them.

"Are you going up top again today?" Sarah asked in an attempt to force Blue into being more sociable.

"I wish" Blue sighed "but Sid asked me to look at some intermittent power dips he noticed during the last launch. It was happening only a few hundred meters from the end of the tunnel so it could be corrosion, could be rodents."

"You're not taking Jeffery!" Sarah stated.

"That little marshmallow?" Blue smiled at last "I'll need something that won't run and hide from his own shadow; I'll grab a couple of cats from one of the warehouses."

Just like all the other equipment stores in the vast underground complex, store 7 was once so tightly packed, it was impossible to walk from one end to the other using only the floor. But today there were only about a dozen racks left and half of those were empty and were currently undergoing disassembly. Sarah Spencer entered with Blue and Jeffery just as a cross brace was dropped to the ground with a loud clang, causing the cat to jump into its ready and alert stance. A few members of the engineering team waved to the small family as they passed by and made their way towards the two men on the opposite side of the warehouse. Blue needed to check in with his boss Sid Cartwright before he left for the depths of the Railgun tunnel, but Sid was more interested in arguing with Professor Linton Adisa, the head of the complex administration.

"It's not every day we see you two knocking heads" Sarah noted "What's the problem anyway?"

Her sudden arrival and comment caused Sid to fall silent mid rant. There were not many others in the gigantic storeroom and the wise ones were staying well away from the minor fracas going on near the eastern wall.

"For some unknown reason, the only decision our illustrious leader has made today is to be indecisive" Sid huffed as he threw up his hands in disgust.

"I'm sorry Sid but I need more time to run some more numbers and weigh up various consequences" Professor Adisa begged.

"WHAT CONSEQUENCES?" Sid waved both fists in the air as he stomped around in tight a tight circle "We've repurposed so many of these warehouses before, I've lost count. Why is it so difficult to make a decision about this one?"

"I'm sorry, it's my own fault" Linton sighed "I've actually been too... well, scared to be honest."

The professor's confession of fear caught the others by surprise; especially Blue who had always looked up to Linton Adisa as a wise grandfather who knew all and feared nothing.

"I promise to have an answer for you soon Sid" the professor continued "Tomorrow at the latest."

Linton Adisa smiled and nodded to those present before turning to leave, but he had not gone one step when Blue called him back.

"I'm sorry Professor; I know you have a lot on your mind but I've been psyching myself up for this and if I don't get it out now, I feel like I'm gonna explode."

Even Sarah was surprised to hear Blue outburst as Linton turned back to face the young man.

"What is it m'boy" he said with genuine concern.

Blue could feel his resolve waning as six unblinking eyes looked in his direction, but he managed to steel himself and speak.

"I want to leave... no; I'm going to leave. Not today but soon."

There was a short period of stunned silence; it made Blue so nervous, he had to keep talking just to stop himself from running away.

"Maybe leave is the wrong way to put it. I want to go and explore outside and see what's there. Maybe even set up a place to live and... stuff."

Considering she was the closest Blue had to family and having heard all his recent doubts and misgivings, Sarah suddenly felt embarrassed about how little she knew about the boys feelings and his desire to escape the groups self imposed prison.

Professor Adisa inhaled deeply "Well then, it sounds like I don't have time to consider my options after all. Perhaps we should all go back to my office and talk."

On their way out of Store 7, the professor stopped briefly at an intercom to page three more people. Willow Pascal and Henry Deming arrived soon after Linton Adisa's small group, but they all had to wait a few minutes for the last person.

"How dare you interrupt me during a delicate operation" Doctor Quill Vieira stated when he finally arrived.

"You don't look dressed for an operation" Sid declared doubtfully.

"Amos got a boo-boo on his left elbow" Quill admitted "But from the way he was carrying on, you'd think I'd just amputated his arm. So what am I doing here, or should I say; what are you all doing here?"

"I wasn't going to say anything about this for a few more months, but some people are beginning to speculate about our future here. And young Blue has expressed a desire to go back to the real world" Professor Adisa began.

'I wouldn't say I was going back" Blue noted "because I don't have any memories of ever having been there before."

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room glanced at each other. After spending fifteen years avoiding conversation about their old lives, it had become a difficult subject to broach.

"I must admit the thought of going back up fills me with some trepidation as well" Sid Cartwright admitted.

"Wait just a minute" Doctor Vieira interrupted "Can someone please tell me why this has suddenly become important? I thought we had to remain hidden at all cost so the EFA could not stop us from sending supplies and equipment to the Mars colony."

"There isn't really anything the Earth First Alliance could do to us that time hasn't already accomplished" Willow Pascal noted.

"After fifteen long years, we are finally starting to run out of both the stockpiled raw materials needed to build the projectiles, as well as the pre-made equipment for the colony" Sid added.

"Exactly right" Linton Adisa agreed "but we are left with several choices as to which direction we should go from here on. I also have to face up to the facts; we don't really know what awaits us on the outside. It's safe to say there is nobody else in the general area, but what will we find if we try to travel back to our old homes?"

"First things first though; anyone who does try to go home should not tell anyone about what we've been doing here for the last fifteen years" Sarah noted.

"Yes indeed" Willow nodded "Although all Mars rocket launches would have ceased soon after we entered here, who knows what trouble the EFA has stirred up since then. We could be wanted criminals for all we know."

"I am hoping we have simply been forgotten about completely, but we should be cautious" Linton added.

"If you think you can guarantee no one will let something slip about this place once we all get out there, then I'd say you've been starved of oxygen. There are a few hundred people down here and they are not used to keeping secrets" Doctor Vieira succeeded in deflating everybody's hopes.

"If what we believe is true and we are the last source of supplies for the Mars Base, then that would mean there has been no one for the EFA to fight against for over a decade" Henry Deming put forward.

"We still don't know what mood the Earth First Alliance was in once the last of the transport rockets left" Linton sighed "Thousands of engineers and scientists helped get the colonists on their way and millions of people were supporting them. So did the war just end when the launches stopped, or did the EFA supporters seek some kind of revenge? Again we just don't know."

"How long will it be till we completely run out of launch equipment?" Willow asked.

"We have enough for one more full MTV load of thirty six capsules and a few dregs" Sid informed the group.

"Then what are you worried about?" Quill Vieira spouted "It'll take you almost two years to get that many capsules into orbit."

"And it may take that long for everyone to prepare themselves for another big alteration to their lives" Linton declared with concern. "Don't you remember how long it took for everyone to acclimatise to living underground?"

Doctor Vieira did remember although he was trying not to. In the first year of isolation when everyone was at their busiest, he had not noticed several members of the complex staff had not been able to successfully make the transition and had chosen instead to end their own lives. The memories still haunted him to this day.

"Shouldn't we be talking to everyone about this?" Sarah asked.

"I know I can't keep it to myself forever, but I'm still not sure if it is better to start making plans now or wait until we're only a few months from completing our task" Professor Adisa noted.

"So it was me who pushed you into this" Blue sighed "Sorry Prof."

"Don't be concerned Blue" the young man's mentor smiled "I don't think Sid was planning on going easy on me either. And besides, I still wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing by keeping it to myself anyhow."

"So can you tell me what you want to do with Store 7 now please?" Sid asked adamantly.

"Clear some machinery out of the main garage; see how many of the vehicles can be resurrected."

"Garage, what garage?" The Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise did its job well as Blue sounded a little shocked.

"Believe it or not young man, there are still a few places in this complex you are yet to see, even after fifteen years" Sid grinned. "The main garage is where we stashed most of the remaining construction machines and vehicles. It is also the way out, via the tunnel to the main ramp."

"Getting ready for a future change should give everyone time to get used to the idea" Quill Vieira noted "And fresh tasks like prepping the vehicles will ease people into the transitional phase. I suggest we make up a timeline schedule to give everyone a sense of continuity during the next year or so."

The small group talked of their future plans for only another twenty minutes. Everyone was reasonably satisfied with the outcome of the session but the only person who was truly happy was Sid. He finally knew what he was doing with Store 7 and he had been given permission to draft a few teams to help him. Professor Adisa requested of Sid not to tell his teams about the reason for their work until he could prepare an announcement for the whole complex. As the last of the planners wandered out, Linton Adisa put his hand on Blue's right shoulder in a signal for him to stay a little longer.

"Another year or more to spend down here; does that upset you son?"

"Not really sir" Blue sighed as he replied "I was excited about the thought of going out, but I must admit to being a little scared too. At least I know its coming and I can spend some time helping Sid get everything ready."

"He should teach you to drive; controlling a four wheel drive is extremely different to operating an interplanetary space ship."

"No computer assist sir?"

"None whatsoever Blue."

"Should be fun; I guess I'd better go down and check out L-41 for Sid."

"Leave it for now Blue; Word came through early this morning from Launch Team Gamma. They're ready to send another parcel up."

"Okay, I'll head out when the Post Fire all clear is given."

* * *

 **I was just reading through the next chapter to get it ready and it feels good to move past the introductory stage and into some main plot. Thanks again for reading guys and gals.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Favourite Christmas present amongst the members of my family is a selection of high quality nuts. Oddly enough, this also accurately describes the members of my family.**

* * *

8 Exploring

The scruffy young girl rose quietly in the morning, so as not to disturb her father, and made her way to the bridge (as if Emerson's snoring couldn't wake the dead). What was left of the moon shone brightly in the western sky and was only obscured by the occasional wisp of light cloud. She stepped outside and gazed along the port side of the ships outer hull to where the Star Runner bobbed gently up and down still tied to the support leg. Just seeing it floating there made her feel a little more secure in this odd place. Her heart jumped a little when she heard footsteps on the metal floor a few meters behind her, but she soon realised it could only be her father; she would have to kick Emerson hard in the butt to get him up this early in the morning.

"Beautiful isn't it?" she noted as he stepped out onto the balcony.

"Yes... you are" the proud father replied.

"Dad, stop it" she grinned and turned a little red "I haven't had a wash in days and I look like a wreck."

"You look just like your mother did when we'd go camping back before we were married" Maynard reminisced "and she looked great then too."

"I miss her already" Calla sighed "and it hasn't even been a week since we left Darwin."

"Yeah I was pondering about what to do last night and I think we'll check out the inlet at Sibolga. The large protected bay there should be the best place to moor the fleet but if it's not, we'll send them to Padang."

"Can we wait there for them" Calla grinned excitedly before suspicion covered her face "or are you planning to keep going."

"I'm sorry Calla" Maynard sighed "but I don't want to waste time sailing back to Padang, but if Sibolga looks good, then we can prepare for their arrival."

"YES!" Calla declared loudly.

"But you realise we can only stay till the ships arrive; then you're going to have to decide if you want to come on the next leg with me, or stay with your mother."

"Oh I've got days to think about that" Calla dismissed her father's concerns "besides; surely we could spend a few hours with them."

Maynard did not mean to ignore his daughter, but something had distracted him. In the predawn light he could see more of the gigantic ship as it stretched out before them. It truly was the biggest ship Maynard had ever seen and he wondered if anything bigger had ever been built before or since.

Although it had been difficult to get an idea of its dimensions from the yacht, now that he stood high above the port side, he found it hard to believe what he was looking at. The previous evening Maynard had assumed the ship must be resting on an outer reef, deep enough for the Star Runner but not for a behemoth like this; he had turned out to be very wrong indeed. The ship must have been over half a mile long and it appeared to have been driven straight up onto the beach. It's truly unique design consisted of five of the triangular support frames running along each side of the ship's hull.

The frames each stood on massive shafts almost ten meters across and forty meters high that protruded straight up from the deck near the gunwales. All the support frames appeared to have been folded back along the hull until they were needed. When deployed, the frames turn the vessel from a ship, into a semi-permanent structure. At the bow stood two huge gantry cranes of the type normally confined to wharfs for the loading and unloading shipping containers.

"Dad, is this what I think it is?" Calla held out a tarnished metal tube she had just picked up.

"It's a bullet casing Calla; a big one too."

Maynard looked down and saw there were several on the floor by his feet but there were many more around a nearby a metal stand that stood over a meter high.

"There's something very weird about all of this; it's clearly a cargo vessel of some kind but it looks like it was heavily armed. It also looks like it only ever took one voyage."

"And it never even managed to achieve that" Calla huffed.

"What do you mean?" Maynard asked his daughter; she was very sharp for her age but sometimes could miss the very obvious.

"Well it's out here... in the middle of nowhere, on the coast of Borneo..."

"West Sumatra; we're nowhere near Borneo."

"Okay, Sumatra then; but there's no port, no city, no mining operation, nothing; it's clearly a shipwreck."

"But Calla, if it was destined to go to a port, why does it have its own on board cranes... and why was it built with all those support legs?" Maynard pointed out "I think this was its precise destination."

"But who would send a ship like this on a one way voyage out here?"

"I can only assume it was someone who wanted a ship full of P.A.M's and E.S.S. Modules."

"Not to mention a Rapid Pulse Plasma Borer or two" Calla added.

"It's getting lighter" Maynard noted "I think I'll wake up your brother and then we can all go exploring."

"Oh please" Calla grinned "let me wake him?"

* * *

"Power flow nominal."

"Capacitors at 60% and climbing."

"What's the state of L-41?"

"Good chance it will overload before it gets to ten thousand watts Professor."

"Hold at five thousand and push L-42 through L-47 to eleven thousand. That should make up for the loss in velocity."

"We're at T minus one minute sir."

"Open all external vents."

* * *

"OWW!" Maynard exclaimed as he rubbed the back of his head.

Returning to the Star Runner to get a tool belt and some hiking gear was a wise and necessary move, but the yacht was quite cramped below deck and Maynard had quickly become accustomed to standing up straight again. He found his work gear close to the keel and was soon on his way back up the ladder to the deck of the ship. Just as he reached the top, Maynard started to feel an unexpected vibration through the metal rungs of the ladder.

"Dad... do you feel that?" Calla asked nervously from the deck.

The water in the bay had been quiet and still but looking down from the top of the support frame, Maynard could see the surface of the sea rippling from the vibrations; like the tip of a tuning fork dipped into a glass of water.

"I think you'd better get over here" Emerson offered sound advice.

Hurrying across the frame, Maynard stepped onto the deck but being back on the ship did not make him feel any safer. Calla wrapped her arms around her father's waist and held on tightly as the vibrations grew more intense with every passing second.

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT?" Emerson shouted.

At that moment a loud hiss caught everyones attention and they all spun towards what had made the sudden noise. About a kilometre away, off the port bow of the ship, a large cloud of dust erupted fifty metres into the air, not far inland from the beach. In less than a second, another cloud shot up further in the distance followed by a third and a fourth. As the line of small eruptions disappeared into the jungle, Maynard finally noticed that the vibrations were slowly dying away.

The astounded trio started to breathe again as they stared at each other, when the surprising events of the morning were punctuated by a distant and most unique sound any of them had ever heard. Maynard would later describe it as being like the thunderous sound multiple lightning strikes hitting the ground in less than one second, but he was wrong. The sound was more like a short burst from a Gatling gun, constructed from the cannons of a World War II battleship (but such a device was a physical impossibility).

"Did you hear that Dad?" Calla asked her father in a wavering voice.

"Oh come on Calla" Emerson shook his head "How could he have missed a noise like that?"

"Aww did someone get up on the wrong side of the world this morning" she teased her older brother.

"I heard it alright sweetie" Maynard declared but was pointing his finger up into the sky "but the real question is, what is that?"

Maynard's children turned to see what their father was pointing at; a dark cloud of grey dust was growing on the horizon and from its centre, an almost vertical white contrail rose up and curved over slightly in the sky the higher it went.

"Okay" Emerson exclaimed "Anyone wanna have a guess?"

Before anyone could answer, the distant and barely visible object suddenly lit up like a star as it continued on its accent."

"Don't know what it is, but I think it just exploded" his father offered.

"A bomb?" Calla gasped.

"I don't think so but..." Maynard found it hard to explain the ideas in his head.

"I think we should check it out before we risk bringing the fleet anywhere near here?" Emerson noted.

"Right then; let's go!" Calla tried to sound brave, but her voice was still a little wobbly. Huge unexpected explosions on the horizon can do that to a young person."

"No not yet" Maynard answered "Give it some time just in case something else decides to go ka-boom. We'll look over the ship first."

The small group just stood and stared at the slowly dissipating cloud for a short time before they began their long walk to the ship's bow. Maynard could not help but wonder about the gantry cranes up ahead, not to mention the strange items listed on the manifest. Over fifty people back in Darwin were relying on him to make the right decisions; their lives depended on him but right here and right now, he needed to consider the safety of his kids.

Safety; what did that word even mean anymore? Every year there were fewer and fewer people left in the world who could remember what life was like before the first arrival of Sholf-4 meteorites. When Maynard was a young boy, he would be fascinated by the stories adults would tell of a world full of cities where electrical power was provided straight to a person's home. Fresh water was piped all over the country and no one had to catch or grow their own food. People would simply throw any leftovers in the garbage when they had eaten their fill.

It seemed to Maynard anyone who had been alive back then, could not stop themselves from going on and on about the things they could buy from stores or order on line. These were the people who had the hardest time coping with the new world and the never ending fear of the next disaster, but for those born post Sholf-4 it was just life. Everyone knew they would enjoy a time of relative calm that could last for two years, five years or even more. No one knew for sure how long it would be, but eventually the orbits of Earth and the Slolf-4 Cloud would cross at the wrong time and death would return.

Sometimes there would be a massive collision bringing huge waves or even wipe out an entire community, but mostly the strikes were numerous and small (if you could call a crater over a hundred meters across small). After a few weeks the bombardment would cease and the rebuilding and preparation would begin anew. That's the way it was for Maynard and that's the way it would be for his children.

Calla's curiosity was defiantly getting the better of her. She had been so anticipating the chance to uncover the secrets of the mysterious ship, but now she felt like the unexplained explosions were calling to her. The Linwood family had been at sea, on and off for many months, so spending some extended time on land made for a pleasant change of pace. Particularly considering how far they still had to travel to reach their destination 55 degrees north of the equator. Calla's first hope was that the ship would provide her father with a legitimate reason to stay for a short time, but now there were the other strange happenings. In the end, if there turned out to be nothing to find, she knew they would soon be back on the Star Runner to continue the journey north.

"Hey Dad!" Emerson brought his father's attention to a stairwell near the spine of the ship.

"I know you wanted to head up to the bow, but it wouldn't hurt to have a look" Calla suggested.

Maynard looked back and forth between the stairwell and the distant bow. Calla was right and if there was nothing to find up forward, they would only have to walk back again.

"Everyone make sure that your lights are charged up" he ordered.

Calla always seemed to end up in the middle at times like this. Her father tended to take the lead while Emerson always kept an eye out behind them.

The condition of the steel stairs only managed to deepen the mystery surrounding the ship. The tanker had clearly been stranded on this shore for many years, but it still appeared to be in quite a reasonable condition. There was a small amount of corrosion showing on the painted metal surfaces, as one would expect to find on a vessel that had not been properly maintained, but Maynard was more accustomed to finding beached ships that were literally falling apart. The more he saw, the more he was convinced that this had been a new ship at the time it had sailed to Indonesia. At the bottom of the stairs, less than twenty feet below the deck, was a walkway that stretched out to the sides of the ship. Calla swept the light from her torch forward and saw nothing more than the huge flat top of a sealed tank.

"So this is where the oil was stored?" she asked.

"Hmm... yes" Maynard replied "I can only assume that they're empty though."

"Let's see then" Emerson decided "Can I borrow your hammer Dad?"

Maynard removed the claw hammer from his belt and offered its handle to his son; Calla put her hands over her ears as Emerson drew back his arm before swinging the hammer underarm at about knee height, into the side of the tank. A loud dull thud echoed around them but it did not sound as loud or sharp as they had expected.

"Doesn't sound empty" the young man declared.

"No... it didn't" Maynard agreed "but something this big is bound to be multi layered... and probably baffled as well."

"Baffled; are you saying this tank is confused?" Calla asked dubiously.

"Well... no" her father grinned "I mean that it has massive metal plates welded to its inner surfaces to stop any liquid inside from sloshing about and making the ship unstable. I'm guessing that baffle plates may dull the reverberation, making the tank sound full."

"Okay... so why don't we take a look inside ?" Emerson suggested.

He climbed back up a few steps and looked over the top of the tank; the beam of his light came to rest on a sealed access hatch not far from the walkway. It only took them a few minutes to clamber up on top of the tank and crawl over to the hatch, but getting it open took a little ingenuity. The locking wheel was quite stuck and refused to open in the usual manner; a little friendly persuasion was definitely required. With much rolling, pushing, grunting and complaining, Maynard and Emerson eventually managed to position themselves on opposite sides of the wheel; the two men lay on their backs with one foot each on the wheel spoke and a length of rope wrapped around their right forearms.

"Okay, put a little pressure on it" Maynard said as he started to pull on the rope while pushing with his foot.

As Emerson copied his father on the other side, they soon had a firm anticlockwise pressure being put on the wheel while Calla crawled in closer. Hammer in hand, she began to make a series of firm taps on the centre hub.

"A little harder Honey" Maynard strained against the wheel.

Emerson could feel the pressure building and his arm beginning to burn when finally, with a sharp crack, the wheel gave way.

"its water!" the young man exclaimed as the hatch was opened.

There was no doubt about it; the inside of the hatch was covered with condensation, there was virtually no smell and the torchlight reflected off of the surface in a very familiar way.

"Is it just me" Emerson asked "or does everyone else think there is something very wrong here?"

* * *

 **To quote the late great Ogden Nash, the plot thickens.**

 **Life for me has just gotten a little more fun; Adelaide's first Cat Cafe has just opened. Coffee, cake and Kitties; what a great combination.**


	9. Chapter 9

**As I did a quick proof read of this chapter (having not looked at it for many months), I could not help but think I must have been in a weird mood when I wrote this one. Bits of it sound like a 2** **nd** **rate sitcom and I even put myself in it. Oh well; nothing wrong with an author going loopy occasionally.**

* * *

Chapter 9

Green on the Red

Mars Base One was a complex of impressive size, although it did not appear so from the surface. To the average astronaut it looked precisely as it should, covering an area in excess of one hundred hectares with habitats covered in the local regolith for protection, several surface rovers standing by, numerous robotic machines going about their business and four spaceships sitting on launch pads at the extreme edges of the base. The true bulk of the base was well hidden underground and stretched away from the visible base many kilometres.

The site for the base was chosen for many reasons but the most important was its vicinity to a long dormant Martian Volcano. Many kilometres of huge lava tubes had been sealed and repurposed as underground farms for the new Martian population. Other tunnels branching off from the farms lead to homes, hospitals, storage areas and workshops making a base that resembled an iceberg with only its tiny tip visible above the surface.

Down in one of the former lava tubes, bathed in filtered and reflected sunlight, nine year old Saffron Dias and her friends took careful note of soil composition and air quality. The information they recorded was part of the academic program, but the young people preferred to think of their task as work; it gave them a feeling of accomplishment. After all, the readings they took were used as a part of the official MB1 health monitoring program. Saffron's mother had been one of the biologists who developed and perfected the systems used on the Martian farm many years ago back on Earth. A similar underground farming system existed in the railgun complex in West Sumatra. The two production facilities had obvious differences but also many similarities such as; both had a Sarah occasionally working in them. The Earth Sarah of course was Blues guardian but the one on Mars was named Sarah Winter, she was only sixteen and did not have a doctorate in physics... yet.

Saffron Dias entered the measurements she had just been given into her computer tablet and pressed 'enter'.

"Hey Saffy, isn't Abigail supposed to be here helping us?" Holly Duncan asked.

"Oh my glorious big sister has more time allocated in the SEV simulator" Saffron declared venomously.

"That was my time she took" Sudhi Mandal huffed.

"She didn't take your time Sudhi!" Sarah Winter did her best to be the voice of reason "The schedule was reassessed because of a pressing need; you'll get your turn."

"I didn't hear Abigail complain; I want to join the astronaut corps too you know."

"Your only ten years old Sudhi, you'll get your chance soon" Sarah grinned.

"And just think about it; if she gets chosen, you'll have one less student taking up valuably simulator time" Holly nodded.

"I don't know what's so great about going into space anyway" Saffron declared "Cramped smelly space ship, prepacked food, it sounds like a recipe for a horrible life."

"Jealous much?" Sarah accused.

"Too much" Saffron surprisingly admitted.

After another fifteen minutes of data gathering, the four friends finished up their work and headed back down to the lower central habitat section of the base. The small group walked quietly until Sudhi broke the silence.

"Are we back in the growth rooms tomorrow morning?"

"Heck no, tomorrow should be a lot more interesting" Sarah noted "We're going up to a heat collector site to inspect one of the solar towers."

Holly and Sudhi were very excited to hear the news but not Saffron because she hated pressure suits; they took too long to put on, too long to take off, were difficult to move in and you should never ask her about the smell.

"What are you looking so glum about?" Sarah asked when she noticed her young friend pouting.

"I hate pressure suits" Saffron replied "They take too long to put on, too long to take off, it's hard to move inside one and don't ask me about the smell."

 _What do you know; I was right!_

"Who was that?"Holly asked in surprise.

"Just the author" Sarah informed them "he can be a real self centred jerk sometimes."

Soon after Holly and Sudhi reached their respective homes, Sarah dropped off Saffron but not before having one last attempt at cheering her up.

"Cheer up and I'll let you have a go driving the rover tomorrow" she offered.

"I'll think about it but I make no promises" Saffron replied sullenly as she opened her front door and disappeared inside.

"Hey Saffy; how'd the work go today?" Saffron's sister Abigail smiled when she saw her younger sibling.

"How come you never turned up?" Saffron sneered without giving any greeting first "You should have finished your test over two hours ago."

"I did, but I had to get changed out of my pressure suit and..."

"Oh don't talk to me about pressure suits" Saffron interrupted.

"If you say so" Abigail shrugged and went back to setting the dinner table.

"Wait a minute; what's going on here Abi?"

Saffron was starting to get suspicious because of what her senses were telling her. Her home was surprisingly clean, uncluttered and mouth-wateringly aromatic. Although those colonists responsible for culinary sustenance did their very best to provide a large variety of tastes and textures of food, there was a limit to what could be done with the ingredients available to them. Quite a reasonable number of spices and flavoursome herbs were being grown but not yet all were available for consumption and there was only so much that could be done with processed cricket protein.

"If you're wondering what that wonderful smell is, apparently it's called honey chicken" Abigail informed her sister.

"Chicken; we've got chicken? How did we get chicken; and honey?"

"Mom put in a request for a special meal to share with Dad before he goes off world again."

"But he's not leaving for weeks" Saffron declared.

"Why wait till the last minute? Abigail shrugged.

"So are you telling me Mom cooked this honey chicken thingy?"

"Oh heavens no; she got it sent over from the kitchens."

Things still did not seem quite right to Saffron but she tried to put her suspicions behind her because she was really looking forward to tonight's dinner. Her attempt to be more casual about the situation only lasted as long as it took for her mother to enter the room.

"Oh good, you're back at last" April Dias declared when she saw her youngest daughter "You've got ten minutes to get cleaned up; and put on something nice while you're at it."

"Is there someone special coming to dinner or something else I'm unaware of? Why do I have to get changed just to eat?"

"Nine and a half minutes; now move or you'll be having cricket burgers."

"I think I'll wear my chartreuse blouse" Saffron decided as she departed the room.

With Luis Dias finally home and April satisfied with Saffron's efforts, the special meal could begin at last. The aroma was far too enticing to resist and the family of four all used the barest minimum of table manners as they filled their plates and began to eat. Abigail and Saffron had only ever tasted real chicken once before but it had not been prepared like this one. The small succulent pieces had been covered in a light batter, deep fried and then coated with a honey sauce and sesame seeds. The meal was served with a selection of stir fried vegetables, without a single Watney potato in the entire mix. Conversation during initial consumption was mainly restricted to the expressing of opinions about the quality of the meal and the chef who had done such an excellent job in its preparation, but this all changed when April posed a simple question.

"So, did anybody do anything interesting today?"

"Ah finally; now I know what this special dinner is about" Saffron realised at last.

"What do you mean dear?" her mother feigned innocence.

"We get this great dinner supposedly because Dad is going off world in a week or two, but then Mom asks the loaded question giving Abi the opportunity to tell us of how she's gotten a high score in the MTV simulator for her practical test. Meaning Dad has to honour his promise and take her on the next supply run to Earth as a qualified trainee pilot; Q.E.D."

A brief moment of silence was broken when Abigail looked at her father while pointing to her sister.

"Err... what she said... yeah!"

"You mean I'm right?" the youngest Dias gasped.

 _There seems to be a spate of these occurrences today._

"Shut up you" Saffron snapped at the author.

 _Sorry._

"Absolutely you're right sis" Abigail smiled excitedly "You are looking at the Official Trainee Co-pilot on the next Earth Transfer Supply Mission."

"Did you really get over Ninety Five percent in the simulator today?" Luis asked his daughter.

"NINETY NINE POINT SIX; HA!"

"Oh I hate you so much right now" Saffron declared but could not hide her smile.

"That's amazing my precious; how did you manage it?" Luis grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"She cheated" Saffron stated bluntly.

"I did not!" Abigail declared adamantly.

"Well... Dad used to let you fly the SEV Tug simulator when you were only eight and that's kind of like cheating."

"If you keep talking like that" Luis noted "You're going to get both your sister and your father in big trouble."

"Yeah, so keep your trap shut" Abigail warned "and besides, all I did was sit in the observer's seat and watch Dad fly the ship while he and his co-pilot explained to me what they were doing; so it was like I started training a few years early."

"I'll bet all that extra sim-time Dad got you in the last few months didn't hurt either: Sudhi wasn't very happy about it either."

"He'll be happy enough when he finds out I won't need the simulator anymore."

As the girls argued back and forth to their hearts content, Luis noticed his wife smiling through a tear.

"Are you alright my dearest?" he asked sincerely.

"Of course I'm not alright you flying fool; I never was happy about that deal you made with my baby and now she's going off world where anything could happen."

"But you and I both agreed..." Luis began.

"I know I agreed" April snapped back "but that doesn't mean I was happy about the whole thing."

"I'll be alright Mom and besides; Saffy's the baby of the family, not me" Abigail insisted.

"You better not say I'm the baby to anyone outside" Saffron warned "or I'll start a rumour saying you did a Kobayashi Maru on the simulator control systems."

"I did not cheat!" Abigail declared adamantly again.

* * *

 **A fluffy little chapter. I must have been listening to the song Fuwa Fuwa Time while writing it. I shouldn't have said that; now I've got a craving for tea and cake.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A slightly longer one this time – I wanted to get to a certain point (cliffhanger) before closing this chapter off. Hope you like :-D**

* * *

Chapter 10

Calla of the Jungle

 _Have you sustained an injury due to improper signage on a strange structure near a beach in Indonesia? If so just call Gruntshaft, Cortboggler & Winckle; Attorneys at Law and we will do our best to obtain for you, a large cash settlement (and a hefty commission for ourselves – he he he)._

 _Oh for heaven's sake Ms. Tinwhistle, don't type the last part... and don't type this part either. NO I AM NOT STILL DICTATING, SO WILL YOU PLEASE STOP TYPING?_

 _That's right Ms. Tinwhistle; you are fired!_

* * *

Emerson and Calla both stared at each other upon learning of their father's discovery.

"Water? I don't get it" Calla scrunched up her face "Why is such a huge tanker like this filled with water?"

Her father decided to take a risk and scooped some out with his hand; he sniffed it and gave it a taste before spitting it out.

"Its fresh not seawater, so maybe it was part of some kind of relief effort" he suggested "There are bound to be people desperate for clean drinking water all over the world but..."

"What is it Dad?" Calla urged her father to continue.

"Those legs on the side of the ship; they're not strong enough to lift this ship out of the sea with tanks full of water. It must have been sitting in the sea at its current height when it was beached, and then had the legs extended to stabilise it afterwards."

"So the water was loaded after it arrived here?" Emerson asked.

"That doesn't make sense either" Maynard shook his head "Calla; give me a hand line and a sinker."

The young girl took off her travel pack and pulled out her fishing gear. She quickly tied a half inch diamond shaped lead weight to the end of a light nylon line before passing it over to her father. The weight dropped into the tank with a plop as Maynard unwound the line from the spool, feeding it through the open access hole. It should have taken him a few minutes to unwind enough line to reach the bottom of the tank, but within a several seconds, they heard a light tap and line went slack.

"It's only a few meters deep" Maynard exclaimed.

Every new discovery on this ship brought them no closer to finding out what it was and why it was here; in fact the mystery only deepened.

"Maybe it's one of those baffle plates you told us about" Calla suggested.

"I don't think so; wait a minute... hold my feet" Maynard decided to find out for sure as he wriggled further out over the hole and put his head inside.

There was only about a foot between the top of the tank and the surface of the water so he had to be careful not to get his dynamo torch wet as he shone it around the inside of the tank. After he had scanned it on all sides, Maynard extracted himself from the hole; the top of his head was wet and water was running down the back of his neck.

"Do you want me to get the shampoo?" Calla giggled.

"It's a fake" Maynard exclaimed to his children "Not only is the tank shallow, but its sides are only a few meters away all around."

"So that means..." Emerson began "What does that mean?"

"It means that whoever built this ship, wanted anyone who boarded it to think it was only carrying fresh water; chances are every access hatch has one of these fake tanks under it."

"Then it really is empty" Calla noted.

"Who knows" Maynard shrugged "But if it ever was fully load, it was defiantly carrying something a lot lighter than water, or any liquid for that matter."

The mildly confused crew of the Star Runner climbed down off the tank and back onto the walkway, following it to the port side of the ship. From there it ran forward and aft along the length of the ship which gave Calla an idea.

"We were headed for the bow" she noted "so why not take the inside route?"

"No; we have to get out of here now" Maynard said with urgency "The sun is up now and it's going to be a clear day, so the underside of the deck is going to be like an oven before ten-o-clock."

"There are bound to be more stairwells going back up" Emerson offered.

"True but I don't want to take the risk" his father declared as he began to lead them back to the centre steps.

The sun had indeed made its way over the eastern horizon by the time they climbed back onto the deck, and the sky was quite clear. Only a few cirrus and cirrostratus were still hanging around after yesterday's storm, so the day would soon be oppressively hot and humid. The remaining breeze was still quite strong and offered some hope of relief, but before they continued their journey forward, all three rolled down their sleeves and removed the detachable pant legs from their packs. Once their limbs were all protected from the harsh rising sun, they put on wide brimmed canvas hats and resumed their exploration. There were indeed more stairwells roughly a hundred meters apart, but the group did not stop at any until they reached the bow.

"Nothing!" Emerson huffed with disappointment when they climbed down the bow steps.

"It's weirder than you think" his father informed them "This bow section in front of the first tank should be an open area down to the keel, but instead the floor is only about ten feet under the deck. You two check the starboard side for any way down while I look in the other direction; don't go too far and be back here in ten minutes."

"Okay Dad" Calla called out as she took the opportunity to lead the way for a while.

She and Emerson found another passage that appeared to run all the way down the starboard side, just like the one that they had discovered back amid ship. It was still very early in the day and they had only gone a short distance, but the metal around them was already starting to warm up.

"I wouldn't want to be here in the afternoon" Emerson declared "You'd get mildly roasted in this confined space."

"Stop your whining and look over there" Calla pointed ahead with her torchlight.

What she had noticed was another sealed hatch in the floor but unlike the circular one on the water tank, this one was rectangular, with rounded ends and was about eight feet long.

"I think we've found the way down" she smiled satisfactorily.

"Not that it's gonna do us much good" her older brother sighed "Take a look at this."

Calla looked closer at where Emerson had knelt down and concentrated his light.

"What the..." she exclaimed "Why is it welded shut?"

"You know what Dad would say" Emerson smirked.

"To stop anyone from going down there!" Calla tried to impersonate her father's deep voice.

If only they knew, their father had the Grey Heron of Stating the Obvious as his constant companion.

"Precisely; I suppose we'd better head back before Dad starts to panic" Emerson decided.

A few minutes later, they returned to find their father sitting on the steps waiting and Calla could not wait to tell of their latest discovery

"We found a hatch to the lower levels, but..."

"It was welded shut?" Maynard anticipated.

"Yes, it was" Calla looked confused before she realised "Did you find one too?"

"A short way down the port side" he admitted as he stood and started climbing back up to the deck.

Maynard lead them to the tip of the bow before he removed a small pair of binoculars from his rucksack.

"I can see the signs of past tsunami here" He told his children.

"They can't have been very big or the ship would be further up the beach" Emerson thought as he scanned the local area.

During their travels, the crew of the Star Runner had become quite adept at judging how much time had passed since any certain place had been devastated by either a meteor strike, or more commonly, by a tsunami.

"I'd guess the last big one hit just before Calla was born" Maynard declared "There appears to have been quite some regrowth out there, but I can see what looks like an abandoned base camp a short distance inland; I think there was even an airstrip."

"HEY GUYS, COME AND LOOK AT THIS" the two men heard.

Calla had walked a little way back from the tip of the bow and appeared to have found something near the forward port leg of the huge ship. As the others went to join her, she pointed down to the base of the first of the strange support legs. It had a small pier attached leading to the beach.

"What do you think Dad?" she grinned "A good spot to moor the Star Runner eh?"

"Sounds like you're planning to stay here longer than I'd planned."

"Oh come on Dad; this place is just screaming to be explored."

"Well I don't know about that, but I would prefer to have the yacht closer to us while we check out the abandoned camp" Maynard admitted "If we find anything useful, I wouldn't want to lug it all the way back up here."

"Great" Calla started slowly climbing down the steps on the triangular frame closest to the bow "You guys get the boat, and I'll meet you on the beach."

"WHO DIED AND MADE YOU CAPTAIN?" Emerson called out, but his sister just smiled and waved, so he turned to his father "Are you going to let her get away with that Dad?"

"Oh she just wants to look around" his father smirked "and I didn't see anything down there to make me worry."

Calla climbed down the ladder slowly and methodically but once she reached the floating pier, the young girl ran to the shore as fast as she could manage without tripping on the moving surface. She did not stop until she had reached the shade provided by a clump of palm trees. It felt nice in the shade and she wished they had all arrived in this place one day earlier; it would have been much easier to see out the storm on land rather than at sea.

After a short time on the edge of the beach, the exploration bug firmly bit her, but first she decided it would be much better to wash off some of the sweat and grime she had built up while climbing all over the ship. So after removing her boat shoes, she stripped off her long sleeve shirt and unfastened the detachable legs from her pants. Wearing only a t-shirt and shorts in the burning sun was not a good idea, but Calla would not spend long out of the shade and Dad wasn't there to shout at her; and besides, she did keep her hat on. The water was quite warm but refreshing and when she climbed out of the water, the wind on her damp clothes certainly helped keep her cool for a while.

It would not be long before the others joined her, so Calla decided to have a quick look around before they arrived on shore. She always liked to be the first to discover anything interesting and Emerson firmly believed his sister's favourite saying was 'Guess what I found?' Whenever she recited that sentence, Calla always managed to make the 'I' sound as if it had at least three syllables in it. Once she had dressed herself again and was protected against the harsh sun, she shouldered her small pack and set off inland for the base camp her father had seen.

It was not far away, about a hundred and fifty meters or so back from the beach, but there turned out to be not much for her to find. Although the camp looked like it had been built after the last devastating wave had hit the area, it also appeared to have been abandoned immediately after it had been completed. There were no signs of anything ever being pushed around by a large volume of water, but everything Calla found did show the ravages of time. Nature had reclaimed most of the flimsy structures as well as the few vehicles left behind, and any pilot would have to be crazy to try and land a plane on the rough, cracked runway.

A wave of disappointment washed over Calla. Her father and brother would come sauntering up the beach soon and she had not found anything to show them. Her pride started to get the better of her. As she continued to wander further away from the beach, Calla pondered the explosions they had heard early that morning. The mountain was not visible from the shore and she imagined it would take the family much more than one day of walking to reach it, so she doubted her father would want take the time to go and investigate.

Calla decided she would just have to convince him of the vital importance of discovering the truth before her mother or anyone else in the fleet took the risk of sailing north to this strange and deserted place, even if they were just passing through.

After another quick look around, Calla decided the time had come for her to head back to the beach and meet up with the rest of the Star Runner's crew. At least it would have been time to go if not for the structure to her left which caught her attention. It was not the way it looked, for it was only a squat, round metal structure about four feet tall and six feet across. What caught her attention was the fact that it made a noise; it was a low grinding, rattly, echo-ish kind of noise and it called to her.

'Come and discover my secret' it whispered 'Impress your father and annoy your brother.'

There was no way Calla was going to turn down an offer like that, so she hurried over to the tube like structure and listened closely. At first it did not want give up any of its secrets so she decided to force the issue. At the centre on top of the strange tube, was a large louvered vent and it just reeked of information and opportunity. She climbed up on top and moved to the centre. Kneeling down, she turned her head to the side and listened carefully. The grindy, rattly noise seemed to wind down and stop about ten seconds later, but she could still hear sounds drifting up from the depths. She heard some light banging, like someone opening things and moving other things around, but then she heard what sounded like someone talking.

Calla's heart began to pick up speed; it wasn't racing, but it was pulling away from the traffic lights in an unsafe manner. There was a voice; there was another living human here. The first one they had encountered since they had left northern Australia and there was also... a meow? She decided the second sound did not matter; she had found proof of someone else being on the island and it was all she needed; her father would be officially impressed and Emerson would be royally peeved.

As she considered the ramifications of her discovery, a large bird with a huge bill landed on the edge of the structure, but Calla ignored it as she came to a firm decision about what her next course of action would be. She would scream loudly as the vent gave way under her and she fell into the darkness.

As she disappeared into the blackness, the Pelican of Everything going Down the Toilet yawned before flying off again.

* * *

 **How do you know if you are talking to a HTTYD fan in December?**

 **They are the ones who will wish you a Happy Snoggletog.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Proof reading this chapter while working on chapter 36, I started to wonder how did I get from here to there story wise? Time for Marty's first re-read.**

* * *

Chapter 11

Falling For You

Blue could not have wiped the broad grin off his face even if he tried (which he did not). All the worries he had felt over the last month had just melted away in one short conversation and it had not been as frightening as he had thought it would be. He would be able to go outside at last to see the world (part of it anyway) and with Professor Adisa's full backing. Blue was prepared to argue his case but he was more than pleased he would not have to. True it would be a year or more before the outer ramp was opened, but just the preparations for the event was something new and different; something Blue had not done before. Re-opening a tunnel sealed for over fifteen years, rebuilding surface vehicles and learning to operate them and eventually being able to see Mount Singgalang from the bottom looking up. And of course the ocean; Blue really wanted to see the ocean.

The light from the Work Tram headlamps bounced back from the reflective paint on the curved wall braces and shone back into Blue's eyes with a strobing effect. The regular flash of light always gave the young man a slight headache and the air quality this far underground did not help either, but the previous day's storm was now well and truly over, so Blue intended to open the surface vents while he worked. Not only would he have a soft breeze to work in, but if he was lucky the sound of the ocean waves may drift on down to him. Blue knew he would have to be careful though because the last time he had tried to get some fresh air into the tunnel, two Macaques had gotten into the complex and caused general havoc for over five hours; Professor Adisa had not been pleased.

The tunnel went quiet as Works Tram D shuddered to a stop near the L-41 marker post and soon the only sound to be heard over the dissipating echo, was the soft meowing of Princess Sabrina. Blue opened up the first cage door and the small tabby dashed out of the tram and began to eagerly explore her surroundings, but when he swung open the second door, Moon just sat in his cage looking like a fuzzy, white, disinterested fat sphinx on a green blanket.

"You lazy little turkey" Blue smirked as he reached in to remove the slightly annoyed cat.

It did not take Moon long to forgive the intrusion as Blue scratched the grey patch on the top of the cats head. The comical discolouration made Moon look like he was wearing a cheap feline toupee.

"See if you can catch anything today tubby" Blue smirked again as he put the cat down "Go on... KILL, MAIM, DISFIGURE!"

Blue turned on the trams flood light, pointed it towards junction box 37 and got to work.

"Let's hope there is only one overload in this section Moon" he informed the aloof animal as it jumped back onto the work vehicle's footplate, lay back down and purred itself to sleep.

"We'll be able to turn on the main power line to L section when we're done and have some proper light at last."

He opened the junction box door and removed an amp meter from his tool tray. It was not very common for a fifteen year old boy to be doing maintenance work on a high powered electromagnetic device such as this, but there were two slight mitigating factors to consider. The first was that Blue had been involved with the machine's maintenance, ever since he had learned to walk and secondly, he had no idea how old he really was. Before he could start testing for residual current, a slight clatter from the overhead vent caught his attention. Blue hoped it was just a mouse or rat because the last thing he wanted to deal with today was another Macaque jumping around the tunnel, screeching horribly and making a mess.

"Well Moon, it looks like I won't be opening the vents today."

The clatter began to grow into a loud thumping rattle accompanied by a high pitched scream and Blue began to realise that whatever was up there, it was too big to be a Macaque.

His eyes widened as the source of the noise burst through the overhead vent and fell towards him.

"Oh my God; it's a..."

* * *

It took Maynard and Emerson just under an hour to get organised; they had to walk back to the yacht before slowly moving it up to the floating dock using the electric motor. Emerson then got to work setting up two small wind generators and some solar panels to charge the batteries, while his father set up some of his home made water purifiers on the dock. They were a simple design with no moving parts and consisted of six black buckets with removable clear domes on the top; he hung a pan with several liters of seawater inside from the rim of each bucket and placed the domes on top. Now he could leave them for a few hours while the evaporated water condensed on the dome before running down and accumulating in the bucket underneath.

"I've been thinking about the tanker" Emerson spoke while he got on with his work.

"It's difficult not to with it looming ominously overhead" his father smiled.

"True, but if it ever was used to transport anything at all, then there must be a way in somewhere; like a door in the side..."

"There's nothing on the port side" Maynard noted.

"...or a deck hatch that we've missed..." Emerson continued.

"Could be."

"...or maybe... an underwater entrance."

"Hmm... far fetched... but possible" Maynard pondered "Of course it may have bow doors."

They both looked up at the front of the ship and wondered; one of the first things Maynard noticed was that something was missing.

"There's something missing" he declared as he walked off up the pier.

Emerson hopped off the deck of the Star Runner and followed his father up the beach. As they walked around the underside of the bow, Maynard inspected the rounded shape.

"What is it Dad?"

"Vessels this size normally have a huge bulbous protrusion below the waterline; it stops them from developing a massive bow wave that slows the ship, but not this one."

"You were right before Dad" Emerson realised "This ship was built with the express purpose of being run up on a beach. But was it meant to be this beach and if so, then why?"

"That is a question I would really like to have answered" Maynard nodded "Come on; let's go see if your sister has found anything interesting."

After walking around the long abandoned base camp for ten minutes, Maynard was beginning to get a little worried. They had both been calling to Calla but when she failed to respond, a detailed search was commenced. Emerson worked his way around the perimeter, while Maynard looked inside every flimsy building and abandoned truck hulk in the area, but neither one had any luck.

"You don't think she would have set off to investigate this morning's explosion do you Dad?"

"If she did..." Maynard fumed as he shook his head.

"So what do we do; wait here or go after her?" Emerson asked.

"We wait for now, but let's get ready to go anyway just in case."

And with that said, they returned to the Star Runner to equip themselves with more camping and survival equipment.

* * *

Blue's head throbbed as he slowly regained consciousness, but that was the least of his problems as he could feel various points of pain. There was one in his right shoulder, in the small of his back, and on his right calf. There was also the constant annoyance of the cat licking the right side of his forehead, but it was the tip of the long shafted insulated screwdriver, digging into the skin under his chin that had him most concerned.

"Err... ouch?" he half enquired.

"QUIET!" the strange girl holding the improvised weapon ordered sternly "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Blue lay quietly for a moment as he pondered what this strange person had said.

"ANSWER ME!" she screamed in his face.

"You just told me to be quiet."

"WHO ARE YOU?" she barked again.

"Err... I'm Blue."

"I didn't ask how you were feeling" the wild girl sneered "just tell me who you are."

"As I said I'm... that is to say, my name is Blue and I live here. Hello, what's your name?" He tried to smile cheerfully but the girl just dug the screwdriver another half millimeter into his skin.

Blue's mind was racing faster than Calla's heart; it dashed from thought to thought but each one was nothing more than a dead end. There was a girl kneeling on his chest, but that was impossible. There were no other people in the area he thought, but that was clearly wrong. He noticed straight away how beautiful she was, but he'd never known anyone else under thirty five years of age before, so how could he trust his own judgement. He wanted to ask her so many questions, but she did not seem inclined to answer any of them. Indeed he was beginning to wonder if he could see out the rest of the day with most of his blood still on the inside of his body. If he could keep him blood, he would then declare it to have been a very good day.

"Err... could I get up now?" he asked "Please?"

"Why; what are you going to do?"

"Nothing special" Blue tried not to startle the girl with the weaponized electrician's tool "I thought I'd stand up, check my sore leg and then put Moon back in his cage before his tongue removed all the skin from the right side of my head."

"What happened to your leg?"

"You fell on me, remember?"

"What are you doing sneaking around down here" Calla asked through gritted teeth.

This strange young girl seemed to be just firing any question she could think of at Blue; he guessed she was confused, but did not want to admit it so she simply tried to keep the upper hand by keeping him mentally busy and off balance.

"I was just checking the junction box; we had some atypical fluctuations down this end during the last launch and... hang on a minute, what do mean sneaking? You're the intruder here" Blue noted.

"JUST SHUT UP AND ANSWER THE QUESTION" she screamed in his face.

"There you go again" Blue sighed "I can't shut up and..."

"SHUT UP" Calla decided to stick to the first option so she would have a chance to think.

She looked around and did not like what she saw. In bright glow of the floodlight, she could see the tunnel was quite big with a round ceiling about ten meters above her, but on each end it just disappeared into total darkness. Calla had fallen so far down, she was surprised to find she was not greatly hurt or even dead. Fortunately for her the vent had been created with an unusual J-curve slope design. As her heartbeat began to slow, and her breathing returned a little closer to normal, Calla decided to try being more reasonable instead of threatening.

"If I let you up will you take me back to the surface?"

"No!" he declared adamantly.

"Why not?" Calla was mildly stunned.

"It's not that I don't want to, but I can't."

"I just want to get back to my family" Calla's voice cracked a little.

"Family; you mean there are others up there?" Blue asked excitedly.

"Don't be stupid, of course there are others up there; do you think I could have sailed here by myself?"

"Well... I don't know... it's... all so confusing. We recommence the launches, there were fluctuations in the primary grid followed by a mild overload, then a pretty girl falls on top of me and holds a long shafted insulated screwdriver menacingly under my chin; it kinda makes it hard to think straight."

Calla suddenly leapt off of Blues chest and backed off; she had not expected this stranger to call her pretty.

"Y-y-you stay away from me" she declared while still holding the screwdriver threateningly.

"Okay, if you say so" Blue held up his hand as he slowly sat up "But you're the one who..."

"SHUT UP!" Calla shouted.

That was when Blue finally realised that he was not the only one with injuries; the strange young girl was holding the screwdriver in her left hand, but it did not seem natural for her. The pain on her face was now very clear to see, and he began to realise how scared she was.

"How's your arm; does it hurt much?"

"M-my arms fine; YOU STAY BACK!"

Blue crossed his legs, remained seated and even closed his eyes so as not to appear too threatening "Your right handed, but you're holding the screwdriver in your left hand. You're obviously in more pain than I am so if I wanted to run away, I could; if I wanted to overpower you, well let's just say I'd have a fair chance. Now I understand that you're scared..."

"I'M NOT SCARED!" Calla protested.

"Really!? I would be if I'd just fallen into a strange place and broken my arm."

"It... it's not broken... at least I hope it isn't... so just take me back to the surface, or you'll see how far you get trying to overpower me."

"Look, I'm sorry I said that, I was just trying to point out that I wasn't trying to hurt you; I never was."

"So you will take me back?"

"Please let me explain..."

"There's nothing to explain; will you take me back, or won't you?" her voice dripped with menace.

"As I said before I can't, but not because I don't want to" Blue tried to stave off the girls anger "You see, I've never been to the surface before; there are vents and things, as you recently found out, but the closest I've come to being outside is looking out of the mountain top structure at the end of this tunnel. I'm sure someone back at Mission Control will know what to do and we could get your arm looked at while we're there."

"Mission Control?" Calla looked back quite puzzled "What is it exactly that you do down here anyway?"

"High Orbit Equatorial Supply Launches" the boy answered her in a very casual manner.

"Oh... of course; how could I not have realised?" the young girl stated sarcastically.

* * *

 **Looking at the date, I should get one more chapter up before Christmas but I'm not sure as I am working on a little surprise for you all.**

 **Clue; it involves the Thorston twins.**


	12. Chapter 12

**To those who are reading when first posted,** _ **Merry Christmas to you all.**_

 **As for those who are reading it later, where have you been?**

* * *

12 Beware of the Engineers  
(the scientists are pretty passive)

The work tram made its way slowly back up the tunnel towards the central manufacturing complex and even though she did not want to admit it, Calla was more than just a little scared.

"How far is it?" she asked after ten minutes had passed.

"Oh roughly about another thirty kilometres so we should be there in just over an hour" Blue answered her with a smile "I can hardly wait to see everyones faces when I turn up with you."

"How many people are down here?"

"I'm not sure; Professor Abbott died a few months ago so I think there must be about a hundred or so."

Calla had already met many new people since leaving New Zealand, but it had always been in the presence of her father and brother. Perhaps she would not have felt so vulnerable if her right forearm did not ache so much. The small tabby cat called Princess was back in her cage and spent the entire tram ride letting everybody know how un-happy she was to be there. The big white cat named Moon sat curled up on the seat next to Calla with his head resting against her leg; he purred so loudly as she scratched his chin, he could be easily be heard over the noise made by the tram.

Calla pondered what the strange young man had said; a hundred people living in a tunnel, so it must be more than a tunnel. He had mentioned Mission Control and several other places, but how big could it be? She shrugged and concentrated on making the cat purr louder; she would find out more in an hour or so.

* * *

A very worried Maynard stood in the shade of what was left of a pre-fabricated building on the far side of the base camp; it had obviously been dumped in its current location by a large volume of water. A slightly overgrown road, no more than a track really, stretched out in front of him and appeared to go in the same general direction as the distant explosion they had seen earlier that day. He could hear Emerson calling out to Calla as he continued the search, but nothing could be heard in reply.

'Where could she be?' the worried father thought to himself.

Between them, Maynard and Emerson had searched the area ten times and hadn't turned up the slightest hint as to what had happened to her. The tracks she left in the sand back at the beach simply led up from the water and disappeared on the harder ground.

"Still nothing Dad" the young man reported.

"You left the note for her on the boat?"

"On the rear hatch cover, as you said; I told her to wait on the Star Runner until we returned."

"Alright then" Maynard took a deep breath "Let's go."

Trekking along the track would not be easy now that the sun was climbing higher in the sky. It was already over thirty two degrees Celsius and would probably reach the low forties by mid afternoon, but they to try; they simply had to find her.

* * *

Calla meanwhile felt as if she had been traveling for a minor eternity. At first the strange vehicle moved up a shallow gradient but near the end of its journey the direction of travel had become almost vertical; although the floor of the tram remained perfectly level as the curved body turned about inside. At last the work tram slowed as it began the final approach into a cavernous staging area. The main tunnel continued straight on and up but the tram turned off to the right at about twenty degrees towards a bright, well lit area. Calla gasped in shock at the sight; it was huge. The small tram was dwarfed inside what was essentially another tunnel, but it was not like the one she had just exited; the curved roof of this tunnel was at least fifty metres high, more than eighty metres wide and must have stretched for about at least a kilometre. All across the floor were machines and other massive devices like she had never seen before, or could have even imagined.

The work tram moved slowly by large flatbed cars on rails running alongside the tram she rode on. Many were empty but some were carrying white cylinders about fifteen metres in length, or long hexagonal frames made from metal tubes; inside the frames were large spherical containers, many of which had the letter CH4, O or Xe printed on them. As they move out from behind the railcars, a large vacant area opened up before her. Not far away was a man riding an electric machine that appeared to be sweeping the floor while on the other side, three people were working on something big and technical that Calla had no hope of describing beyond the words Big Box.

One of the workers turned to wave at Blue, but when she saw Calla sitting on a bench behind the young man, she dropped the tool in her hand and ran off after the tram. The others who were working on the box called out in protest until the women shouted back what she had seen; soon they were all chasing after the tram as it made its way to the far end of the massive expanse and shuddered to a halt.

No one could really blame young Blue for what happened next; he simply did not have any experience in matters such as this. In hindsight it would have been best if he had prepared Calla by telling her of the excitement her presence would cause. Maybe he should have even suggested she hide until he could call Sarah and the Professor and explain what had happened. But instead he just looked where he was driving, oblivious to the people running after him.

The Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock squawked loudly and Calla could not hold back any longer; now the tram had stopped, her new reality hit her harder than she had hit Blue over an hour ago. She was deep underground in some kind of weird bunker, sitting on a tram with two cats and a strange boy with an even stranger name. Now three people were running after her so she decided 'Nope; I can't put up with any more of this.'

"COME BACK!" Blue shouted as the girl sitting behind him suddenly jumped off the tram and sprinted back the way they had come.

At first he did not know why she had run off but as he climbed down from the cab, Blue noticed the small group of mechanical engineers trying to quickly change direction without falling over, as they gave chase.

"HEY YOU GUYS, YOU'RE SCARING HER!" he called out just before he tripped over the adjacent railway line and fell to the floor with a thud.

Calla cursed the black tunnel ahead; she did have a torch in her rucksack but her right arm was still in extreme pain and she could not fish it out on the run. Making a quick dive between two of the flatbed railcars, she ran off into a storage area where some strange looking, three metre high mushrooms on conical bases were lined up on each side.

"SHE'S GONE IN BEHIND THE P.A.M. Boosters" someone shouted "TRY TO CUT HER OFF."

Time was running out for the young fugitive; she had no idea if she was going in the right direction to escape her pursuers, so she desperately searched for anywhere she could hide. Maybe she'd find something a few aisles over because they'd certainly spot her if she tried hiding behind the storage racks. Calla stopped and looked up at the odd mushroom shaped things all about her. P.A.M. Boosters; could these be the same things her father had found listed on the ships manifest? Even though Calla was now staring straight at them, she still had no idea what they were.

A tall elderly dark skinned man walked around the corner ahead of her, reading from a computer tablet while eating a muffin. The sound of running footsteps approaching caught his attention but when he looked up from his notes, he saw a girl standing in front of him like a deer in a spotlight.

"Oh my Lord... hello" he muffled with a mouth full of muffin.

At that moment two of the engineers came around the other end of the aisle as the third came puffing and panting up near the muffin man.

"Please wait" the man with the tablet and snack begged as he put out his hand toward her.

With a the other three bursting onto the scene so suddenly, Calla was about to dive between the P.A.M's (whatever they were) and keep running but the muffin man's deep and calming voice helped to change her mind. The others also looked to this man for their cues and so they stopped advancing on her and backed away.

"Where did you come from child?" he asked softly.

His kind face and gentle words affected Calla in a way she had not expected; all the fear, tension and pain she felt finally got the better of her and she sank to her knees and began to sob.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER" Blue cried out when he finally arrived after picking himself up and running over as fast as he could manage with his badly bruised leg.

"W-we didn't do anything" Doctor Willow Pascal declared defensively as Blue hurried over to comfort Calla and help her up.

The man with the muffin approached from the opposite end and looked at the young man sternly.

"Blue; what is going on here?"

"She fell down one of the vents in section L-41" Blue explained "I didn't know what to do so I brought her back here; she may have a broken arm sir."

"And so you all decided to chase her across the assembly room?" Linton Adisa scowled at the others.

"Sorry Professor" Doctor Pascal and her colleges all dropped their heads "we didn't mean to scare her it's just... well... she's here... and... Wow!"

"Eloquently put Willow" Linton smiled

Calla's eyes widened upon hearing the strange comments; when she had first met Blue, he had also seemed surprised to hear of other people being nearby.

"My name is Linton Adisa" the muffin wielding professor said softly "Can you stand my dear."

"Y-yes... sorry" she said as Blue helped her up "I'm fine now."

Calla wiped her eyes with her hand (and her nose on her sleeve) and stood up straight and tall, trying to appear brave.

"Then perhaps we should take you to the infirmary and have someone take a look at your arm."

"Err... okay... thank you" she smiled as Blue led her off away from the small crowd.

"Willow, can you please call Doctor Vieira and ask him to meet us there?" Professor Linton Adisa asked.

* * *

Calla felt like she was in a zoo as she sat in the infirmary being examined by the strange doctor. Blue and Professor Adisa waited not far away, but it was the constant stream of faces that kept looking around the door before withdrawing and whispering that had her edgy; even the Doctor himself was treating her as if she were from another galaxy.

"Well it appears to be nothing more than some soft tissue damage" he declared "I'll give her something to stop the swelling and give the arm an x-ray just to be sure."

"W-what's an x-ray?" Calla asked suspiciously.

"Nothing to worry about" Doctor Quill Vieira smiled "I just want to take a picture of the bones in your arm."

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING MY BONES OUT!" Calla screamed as she leapt up and ran to the far end of the infirmary.

* * *

 **As I plot, plan and ponder the direction of the story, one thing I had always wondered; will the Dragon Riders only be a part of history in this tale, or will any of them make a live appearance? The answer is YES (to the second part). I finally worked out how to link past and future later in the story.**

 **I'm so excited :-D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Just went 24 hours without electricity thanks to a major tropical storm (and I don't even live in the tropics); the weather here sure is changing. Well now the computer is powered up, I can post again.**

* * *

Chapter 13

Amazing Stories from the Twilight Zone

Blue and the professor rushed back into the examination room as soon as they heard the young girls cry. They found her attempting to use a gurney as both a shield and weapon.

"WAIT CHILD" Professor Adisa called to Calla "I promise we won't do anything to hurt you. What happened in here?"

"That guy wants to cut my arm open" she accused.

"No I don't" Doctor Vieira declared "I only want to take an x-ray; it's like a taking a picture.

This made Calla feel a little less agitated but she did not move out from behind her shield. No one had considered the possibility that she would not have any clue about what they considered normal medical procedure. After what had happened in the store room, Blue was still feeling very protective and kept trying to rush over and defend Calla.

"You don't have to have an x-ray if you do not want" Linton Adisa offered "Does she Doctor?"

"Err no; I just wanted to be sure" Quill Vieira responded.

"I want to go back to the surface... NOW!" she still looked at the men around her as if they were a pack of hungry carnivores.

"Yes alright" Professor agreed as he held Blue back "but there is a small problem."

Calla did not say anything but she looked at the Professor with doubt in her eyes, like someone who was expecting to be lied to; Linton Adisa knew he would have to choose his next words carefully.

"There are currently only two ways out" he informed her "Through a vent like the one you fell down, and that would be far too difficult to climb, or at the mouth of the rail gun at the top of a mountain many kilometres away. We can take you there if you demand it, but it might be better if we talked a little more first."

"Why should we talk?" Calla asked sarcastically "Do you think you can just hold me here? You'll regret if you try."

Professor Adisa looked down at Blue, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm inclined to believe her" the young man declared.

"There is a lot we do not know about the current state of the surface" Professor Adisa admitted "Perhaps you could tell me about it; and I in turn could tell you all about this place. How does that sound?"

Calla thought about the Professors offer; she only wanted to get back to her father and brother, but it would be good to take back some choice information. If only she could be sure these people could be trusted and she would be allowed to go back. The influence of the Wood Duck of Curiosity swept over Calla as the fear she once felt began to melt away. Far from being the evil kidnappers she had once suspected these people to be, they now appeared to be easily manipulated. It was time to give them an honesty test.

"It looks like I don't have any other choice" she declared accusingly "Just answer this."

With stern and deliberate purpose, Calla pushed the gurney aside, marched up to the Professor and whispered quietly to him "What is a P.A.M. Booster?"

She could tell her question surprised him, but she knew if he tried to pass it off as unimportant or made up some kind of lie, she would be able to tell. Then she would know for sure they could not be trusted. Linton Adisa exhaled as he realised what she was doing, he leaned forward and answered her softly.

"You are a clever girl" he whispered "P.A.M. stands for Payload Assist Module; quite an old piece of technology but we still use them to boost heavy payloads into a higher orbit. It could also be employed to send a smaller payload on the start of a journey beyond the Moon."

Calla considered what the smiling man had said for a few seconds. Blue had mentioned something about high orbit launches when she had been interrogating him back in the tunnel; now for the final test. She went on another little march to the doors of the infirmary, where about twenty people were now looking through the glass at the new addition to their ranks. They back off to avoid being hit by the doors when it became apparent that she was not going to stop. Stumbling backwards, they almost fell over each other as she burst through into the corridor.

"YOU THERE" she pointed at a terrified woman "What's your name?"

"Um... ah... Sarah... Doctor Sarah Spencer" the frightened lady wondered why she was being picked on by such a little girl.

"Tell me Doctor Sarah Spencer, what is a P.A.M. Booster?"

"Err... it's a Payload Assist Module" she replied "a rocket motor."

Calla smiled and nodded, pleased that she had received the same answer from two different people. She turned back into the infirmary and approached the man standing with Blue.

"Thank you for not lying to me; I'm Calla Donia Linwood" she smiled and gave a slight bow "Pleased to meet you."

"Professor Linton Adisa" the tall man replied "Would you like to come with me to my office?"

"I still really want to get out of here and find my Dad" she admitted "He must be going off his tree by now looking for me."

"Yes of course; that will be our main topic of discussion."

The two children walked out with Professor Adisa passed the still stunned group of engineers and scientists. Although Calla was slowly getting used to the strange way these people looked at her, she still could not really understand what it was that had them so fascinated; it was as if she had two heads and a tail.

"Why does everyone keep looking at me like I've got two heads and a tail?" she asked.

"You have to understand this Miss Linwood; as far as we were aware, we were either in grave danger from survivors on the surface, or were possibly the last people left alive on planet Earth. Although we did hold out hope that there may be pockets of survivors somewhere in the northern hemisphere, we had no way to know for sure. We never entertained the thought one day we would ever be visited by someone such as yourself. Your arrival has come as a complete surprise to us and although we are very happy to see you, we are not precisely sure what it means. At one time there were people who wanted to stop us and were prepared to kill us to do so."

"Why is that?" she asked as they entered Professor Adisa's office "You all seem like nice enough people now nobody is chasing me?"

"We were once the major provider of supplies for the Mars colony and I now suspect we are the only ones left."

"So without you, they die?"

"They should be self sufficient by now, I hope."

Calla had never seen an office before, so it did not strike her as odd that this one resembled more of a living room, than a place of work. It was quite a large room, with a large desk and table at the far end; both were covered with papers and plans. Just inside the door and to the left, were two couches, and two plush reclining chairs and the Professor gestured towards them.

"Just knowing that there are people alive on the surface, means that we must alter our plans somewhat, but in order to make an informed decision, we must be informed" the tall man informed the young girl "I know this is a silly question but do you know how many people there are up there, roughly?"

His words confused Calla somewhat; she had no idea what he was talking about but as she sat in the comfortable chair, she thought about his question.

"We left a few hundred people in New Zealand and there were small pockets all the way up the east coast of Australia and in the top end. Most of the islands we've come across since then have been deserted though."

"Hmm." Professor Adisa rose, wandered over to a flat file cabinet and opened the third draw down. He hoped the map he extracted would help Calla to understand what he was about to ask.

"Let's see now" the Professor placed the map down on a coffee table in front of the couches.

Blue and Calla left their chairs and went to sit on either side of the man in charge as he pointed some areas out on the map.

"This is where we are now" he pointed to a spot well inland from the sea before moving his finger much further on "and this is the exit near the top of Mount Singgalang. Blue tells us that you came down a shaft near point L-41, which is all the way back here at the old construction site; does that look right to you?"

"Yes sir" Calla replied "We came in at this beach here, where the big ship is."

"Big ship?" the Professor frowned "What big ship?"

"The giant tanker; we spent last night on it."

Calla gasped in shock as Professor Adisa grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke very slowly and clearly.

"Miss Linwood this is very important; this ship, it was driven up onto the beach?"

"Y-yes" she replied.

"And it had huge stabilisation legs along each side?"

"Yes it does."

Professor Adisa gulped as his grip tightened.

"Y-you're hurting me" Calla declared and the tight grip was instantly released.

"Oh, I'm so sorry my child" Linton Adisa begged "Tell me, is the ship intact?"

"Well we couldn't find a way down into the hold; mind you, we didn't look very hard."

Without another word, Professor Adisa leapt up and marched to the phone on his desk. He pressed the number two button three times and speakers all over the complex crackled into life.

"All engineering, manufacture and supply heads report to the AV Room in one hour; and Doctor Spencer, please come to my office at once; that is all."

Blue and Calla watched as Professor Adisa suddenly turned from a quiet and calm individual, into a frustrated and frantic wreck. He dug through the papers on the table next to his desk, before giving up and hurrying over to a floor to ceiling cupboard on the opposite side of the room. Doors were opened, then slammed and draws were rifled through before he finally found several small black rectangular slabs about the size of his hand, which he placed inside a battered old leather folio case.

He turned sharply at the sound of a knock at his door and bid the person outside to come in; Calla recognised the woman who entered as the one she had accosted outside the infirmary about fifteen minutes ago.

"Sarah, I need you and Blue to take care of our guest for a while" the Professor requested. "Stay close to her, answer any questions she has and help her to understand what is going on."

"What is going on Professor?" Doctor Spencer asked.

"More than any of us realise" he sighed "I've got a very strong feeling that things are going to get very hairy, very soon and a lot of people are going to be very very upset."

"That's a lot of very's" Sarah Spencer gasped.

"I'm sorry about this Miss Linwood, but I must go and call Olive Roux. I'll meet you in the AV room as soon as I can."

The three mildly stunned people were ushered out of Professor Linton Adisa's office and into the corridor.

"One last thing Miss Linwood; have you ever heard of a group known as the Earth First Alliance?"

"No sir" Calla answered before the professor disappeared and closed the doors.

"What on earth happened in there?" Doctor Spencer asked Blue.

"Well... um... we were looking at a map..." he began.

"And he was showing me where I was" Calla interjected "But when I told him about the ship..."

"THAT WAS IT!" Blue interrupted "He got all weird and nervous when Calla mentioned the big ship!"

"What big ship?" Doctor Spencer looked even more confused.

"My Dad called it a supertanker, but it had these legs on the side."

"Oh... crap!" Sarah Spencer's eyes widened "Calla, it is very important that you do not mention this ship to anyone else until Professor Adisa has had the chance to break the news delicately. Maybe we shouldn't go straight to the AV room; the department heads will all have questions and we shouldn't answer them yet."

"I left the Princess in her cage when all this started" Blue noted "and the Moon is still somewhere in the assembly area."

"Good idea" Sarah nodded "We'll swing by there to kill some time while Professor Adisa makes his call."

"So who is this person he's calling?" Blue asked.

"It's not so much who" Sarah informed them "but where."

"Okay then; where is he calling?"

"Mars" she replied.

* * *

 **Got two chapters of the link story written so it should appear early January 2017.**

 **Happy New Year everyone and I'll be back soon.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Happy New Year one and all. Lots of free time in January so should get a fair bit written when I'm not doing my income tax (boring).**

 **I was about to add some short lines to earlier chapters because of confusion about how the Ship got to Sumatra and who knew about it, but when I proof read this chapter I saw the info was already here; sorry for causing confusion.**

* * *

Chapter 14

Light the Corners of my Mind

There were only two people in the communications room when Professor Adisa entered and neither of them was doing any communicating.

"Can you give me the room please?" Linton asked and they both departed leaving the worried looking man to his task.

For fifteen years, fear of the Earth First Alliance meant all communication with the Mars colony had been incoming only. In the years before Linton's team of engineers, biologists and other scientists had been sealed inside the Railgun Complex, the EFA had mounted countless attacks on any country involved in the Mars Solution. This powerful group insisted the Earth was not at great risk annihilation and all the effort put into starting a Mars colony, should be spent preparing deep underground shelters for the people of Earth. For this reason the only signal sent from West Sumatra was a single computer generated acknowledgment pulse lasting only a fraction of a second. This pulse informed the Mars base their message had been received, without giving the EFA time to triangulate and track the signal back to the Railgun.

Everything Calla had revealed to Linton, told him there was very little risk of detection, but he was still more than a little nervous about what he was about to do.

"Well, here goes nothing" he told himself.

Linton gingerly grabbed the computer mouse and opened a window that had not used since the day it had been installed. A very obvious warning appeared on the screen asking him if he was sure about proceeding. After taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he clicked yes.

' _ **Professor Linton Adisa requesting a secure channel to Premier Olive Roux regarding future supply launches'**_ he typed and pressed send.

A clock in the top right corner of the screen began counting up from zero. With the time delay between Earth and Mars he knew he would have to wait at least four minutes for a reply; probably much longer.

The automatic tracking system locked on to the Mars Transfer Vehicle where the computer chimed to alert the crew of the relaying message. It took Jarred Kinderman a few seconds to realise what was happening before he reacted in the time honoured manor; he swore.

"It-it's a signal; from Earth!" he declared.

"It can't be" Ruth shook her head in disbelief.

"Maybe so, but it is."

"Quick, rout a copy into the ships computer."

Jarred spent the next fifteen seconds franticly typing on the keyboard in front of him, until the computer finally beeped in recognition of the order.

"What do you think has gone wrong?" Jarred wondered out loud.

"Who's to say there is anything wrong?" his wife replied.

After years and years of silence, do you think they just called to say hello?"

As half panicked wonder gripped the MTV crew, back on Earth Linton Adisa leaned back in his chair and contemplated the past. He thought about the last time he had spoken to Olive Roux, and he thought about what had occurred on that ship so long ago. Linton then realised he would have to remember what had happened in great detail if he was to have any chance of tricking Olive into revealing something and learning the truth. He had always trusted her in the past, but doubts now filled every corner of his mind.

As he closed his eyes, Linton pictured the ship sailing west on the southern side of Hawaii. To the surprise of everyone on board, April Dias had just gone into labour several weeks premature. A few hours later, a tiny baby came into the world facing a very uncertain future. Several hours afterwards, Linton received word about an imminent attack on the ship by the Earth First Alliance. How did they find out about the ship? It bothered him a lot back then, but even more so now.

Helicopters were dispatched to evacuate April to the US launch site, and Linton's team to Indonesia but by the time they arrived, the first combatant from the EFA had moved in. It was only a single attack drone and it was quickly dealt with, but the evil machine still managed to fulfil part of its deadly mission. The first of the helicopters to leave the ship was the medivac chopper sent for April Dias; it was only a few kilometres into its journey when an air to air missile turned it into fiery debris. Linton was not on the stern helipad when the tragedy had occurred, but Sid Cartwright and Amos Hooke had given him the sickening report of April's death. They eventually gave some good news though; the baby was not on the transport but was still on the ship being cared for by Sarah Spencer.

"I must be getting emotional in my old age" Linton said to no one when a tear came to his eye.

He remembered how nervous his team were when the other helicopters arrived to evacuate them, but the first leg of the journey went ahead without incident. As soon as they arrived on the Aircraft Carrier, the entire group were transferred onto transport planes and roughly five hours later, they arrived in Western Sumatra.

The computer emitted a disturbing beep causing the professor to sit up quickly; the reply from Mars had come at last.

' _ **Premier Roux unavailable at this time. This is Commander Neville Sage on a secure line.'**_

"Damn it!" Linton sighed.

He may have recently developed doubts about Olive Roux but he never had any such doubts about Sage; the man was as trustworthy as a politician's promise. Linton considered his options and came an unfortunate conclusion; he would have be hypocritical and lie.

' _ **It is good to talk with you again sir'**_ Linton's first lie was a whopper.

' _ **I regret to inform you that after many years of supply launches, we have finally exhausted our supply of materials and can no longer create cargo pods. If you are still in need of assistance, I suggest my team and I leave the complex and attempt to procure more equipment; primarily by searching for the Ship with a view to salvage. If we should fail, we would attempt to travel to all known Launch Sites and Railguns to seek help and salvage what we can.'**_

"Let's see what he thinks of that idea" the professor gave a sly grin and clicked on send once more.

Before leaning back and returning to dreams of the past, Linton smiled at the thought of Sage in a furious panic. The Commanders usual method of getting his way, was by abusive intimidation but this would be very difficult to achieve with an interplanetary distance between them.

The flight to West Sumatra was uncomfortable but smooth and Linton remembered being greeted on his arrival by the head of the construction engineers, Harry Grey. Linton's Railgun had already been a major part of the Mars Base supply chain for many years along with two sister complexes in Africa and South America, but whereas the other railguns relied on thousands of military personnel to keep them safe from EFA attack, the Sumatra site made use of isolation and secrecy alone. The plan was to await the arrival of the ship, unload its contents and move everything inside the complex. Only when the transfer of equipment was completed, would the base be sealed and camouflaged but early the next morning, an emergency radio communication arrived with deeply disturbing news.

The ship had been sent to the bottom of the South Pacific by an EFA attack. Professor Adisa's superiors believed the enemy could use their new knowledge of the ships course to make a search for the railgun. The order was given to move the schedule forward and seal the base immediately. The empty underground storehouse set aside for equipment now lost, was employed as a dumping place for the construction and earthmoving equipment Harry could not remove in time. Linton's people were sealed inside the complex before the days end and after the entrance was buried and camouflaged, and the last transport aircraft had departed, a small team used the last of the earthmovers to tear up the runway.

Linton had always wondered about what had happened after the access ramp was closed but of all the scenarios he had considered, the eventual arrival of a reportedly sunken ship never crossed his mind. A familiar sound brought his attention back to the computer screen. A slight smirk on Linton's face turned into a broad smile as he read; he could almost sense the combination of annoyance, patronisation and panic in Sage's words.

' _ **Negative; I strongly suggest you do not leave the Railgun Complex as the surface of the Earth is now very hostile. There is a high probability the EFA will execute you all as traitors to the people of Earth, if they should ever catch up with you. Ship is confirmed sunk and is unsalvageable. Thank you for the time and effort you and your people have put towards the survival of humanity on Mars. What you have achieved with so little is a credit to you all, but now you should protect yourselves by staying out of sight. Further orders will be forthcoming.'**_

Linton contemplated the words 'further orders.' How much power did this man believe he had?

' _ **Message received and understood'**_ Linton typed and sent back.

"And will be completely ignored" he grinned.

* * *

 **Professor Adisa may not know how and when the Ship arrived, but he will find out later.**

 **Hope all my friends up in the northern hemisphere are keeping warm and avoiding the roads when they are all iced over.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Spent the last 10 days working on another story so it's good to be back with this one. Also good to be in an air conditioned house as it is 40 degrees Celsius outside.**

* * *

Chapter 15

Hats and Cats

Emerson sat in the dappled shade of another kind of tree he did not recognise and fanned himself with his hat. This was the kind of day where all activity would normally be undertaken early in the morning and in the evening only. While the sun was high, the heat was far too oppressive to do anything physical for any length of time.

"I find it hard to believe she could have gotten this far" he noted to his father sitting beside him.

"She is fit" Maynard admitted "but she's not stupid so I find it harder to believe she would have even tried to get this far. No matter how curious she is, Calla just wouldn't simply run off in an unfamiliar place without a word or a reason; and that's what has got me worried."

"So what do we do now, go on further?"

"No; we go back, but we split up. You head off the road to the left about ten metres and I'll go to the right. Take it slow and see if you can find any signs or clues, but hopefully she'll be sitting on the boat by the time we get back."

"But wouldn't she have sent up a flare if she'd..." Emerson stopped when he realised his father was already aware of that fact, but was still holding out hope for a minor miracle.

* * *

Deep underneath Calla's family, Sarah Spencer had commandeered a small electric buggy and driven her young companions back to the staging room. Much to her surprise, Calla began to feel apprehensive as they approached the work tram but she managed to relax a little by telling herself she would not have to go back down the dark tunnel. When they arrived, Princess Sabrina was found asleep in her carry cage but she sprang back to life when Blue approached.

"That's a big noise for little cat" Calla smiled.

"Yeah she definitely wants out but she'll have to wait till we get to the farm; you can't trust the Princess to stay put" Blue noted.

"Where's the Moon? Sarah asked when she noticed the other cage was empty.

"Oh he probably wondered off to find some peace when a rampaging mob of engineers started chasing Calla across the room" Blue informed her before he called the cat's name.

"You seriously can't expect a cat to come when called" Calla smirked; she had known too many pet cats back in New Zealand.

As if Blue and Moon had planned specifically to prove her wrong, the large white cat stepped out from behind one of the storage racks an wandered slowly over to the trio. Blue opened the door to his carry cage and set it down.

"It's going to be a struggle getting him in the..." Calla started to say.

She stopped talking when the cat walked up to Blue, rubbed against his leg as it passed by and moved on into the carrier.

"What the..?" Calla exclaimed.

"He's a very mellow cat" Blue noted as he placed the cages onto the buggy for the next leg of their short journey.

Sarah Spencer drove the small group trough an exit on the far side of the store and down another tunnel in the underground labyrinth. As they travelled, many people walked or drove by and every last one of them stared at the young girl sitting next to Blue. The news about Calla had raced throughout the complex very quickly, but everyone she passed looked as if they felt especially fortunate to be in the right place at the right time just to see her. Her first impression of Blues home was of a big tunnel connected to a few expansive rooms and a collection of small offices but the further they travelled, the more uncertain she was about the true size of the complex.

As the vehicle continued on its way, they turned far too many corners for Calla to keep track of where she was and she soon realised she would be completely lost without her new friends. They past by many large roller doors and each one had a huge number printed on it with a sign on the right side of the door frame. The signs only gave her minor clues as to what was going on inside the rooms and as the cart sped by, she read words like Preparation, Long Term Storage, Processing, Formation, Re-purposing, Manufacturing and many more. None of what she had discovered so far though, prepared her for the wonder of their current destination; one of the underground farms.

Blue picked up Moon's cage as Calla alighted with the lighter one.

"Let me help you with that" Blue offered "Your forearm is still swollen."

"Back off lover boy" Calla sneered "there's nothing wrong with my left arm so you just take care of your cat."

Sarah tried to hide a snortish laugh while Blue just stood there in mild shock.

"Lover boy?" he wondered out loud.

"Don't act all innocent; I've seen the way you've been looking at me."

"How have I been looking at her?" he asked Sarah.

"With a kind of wonder and fascination" the doctor replied.

"Sounds about right" Blue nodded his head.

"So you admit it" Calla accused him.

"Well... yes" the young man did admit "I've never known anyone like you in my entire life; I've certainly never met someone younger than me. Is it wrong that I find you fascinating and intriguing?"

Calla said nothing as she just stared at him for half a minute; her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"SHUT UP CREEP!" she declared again and stormed off through the double doors at the end of the parking bay.

Sarah Spencer sank to her knees, laughing uncontrollably as Blue's face went totally blank.

"Why is she so angry?" he asked Sarah when she finally managed to bring herself under control.

"Oh Blue, you've been living with scientists and engineers far too long" she smirked.

"Where else was I going to live; and you haven't answered my question."

"She's angry because you did not react like a boy with a crush on a girl normally would."

"She did crush me a bit when she fell out of the vent; is that what you mean?"

"No Blue" Sarah smiled "a crush is when you have feelings for someone."

Sarah's statement confused poor Blue even more.

"I have feelings, you have feelings, everybody has feelings."

"Err no Blue; I mean... well you see... she thinks you're kind of... in love with her."

"Why on Earth would she think that?" Blue wondered.

Blue followed Sarah as she walked off to find Calla, while the Rockhopper Penguin of Confusion made a blitzkrieg attack on Blue conscious mind. They found the young girl standing on the other side of the double door, staring with her mouth wide open. In front of her was another giant tunnel, just as high and wide as the Staging Assembly Area, but at least five times as long. It was filled with many different kinds of crops and the distinctive sounds of chickens somewhere in the distance.

"Are you okay?" Blue asked the young girl who seemed to be spending more and more of her time recently, being stunned.

"Where did all this come from?" she asked, still stunned.

"It's always been here" Blue noted.

"Well not always" Sarah Spencer corrected "but it has been here a long time."

Calla snapped back to attention and hurried after Blue and Doctor Spencer as they wandered off between two rows of plant racks several stories high. As she looked up between the capsicum and tomato vines growing in front of her, Calla gasped once more when she saw the sunlight overhead.

"We're back on the surface; I can get out from here" she exclaimed excitedly.

"I'm afraid were still over a kilometre bellow ground" Sarah informed the young girl.

"But I can see daylight up there" Calla stated.

"True it is daylight, but it's being reflected down here from hundreds of solar collectors, through large tubes and into diffusers" Sarah explained.

"I understood very little of what you just said" Calla admitted "and I didn't see anything that could be a solar collector when I was up there."

"Do you know what a solar collector looks like" Blue grinned mischievously.

"Shut up smart ass" Calla sneered.

"Come on you two" Sarah sighed "play nice. There are no collectors near the shore because a Tsunami would wipe them out and risk flooding the base. But even if you were inland, they are very well camouflaged so it's highly doubtful you would notice one unless you were searching intently and knew what to look for. They're even designed to close up if our radar picks up any approaching aircraft."

Calla walked further along the row of plants, taking in her surroundings. Looking through the vine branches she could see an entire wall with various beans, some varieties of onion spouts, small bushes that could have been the tops of potato roots and many other plants growing in containers all the way to the roof. The rows ran for about 30 metres before opening out into a wide area the entire width of the tunnel, where some kind of grain crop was growing. Blue put down the cat cage he was carrying and opened the door, allowing Moon to wander out and literally stretch his legs. Taking the cue from him, Calla did the same. The Princess sprang out of her cage and hurried over to the Moon, who just stood up and trotted off with the little tabby in hot pursuit.

"The Princess is barely more than a kitten really and still loves to play" Blue smiled as he explained "but the Moon has a few more years under his belt and just wants to be left alone."

"Okay you two; Farm Seven is safe from rodent infestation again so we'd better get over to the AV room before Professor Adisa blows a gasket" Sarah declared.

As they wandered back to the double doors and the electric buggy, the trio passed a tall Indonesian man who started to greet them, until he saw Calla and froze.

"What the..." he began.

"I get a strong feeling I'm gonna here that phrase many time over the next few days" Blue nodded.

"Here we go again" Calla sighed.

"Doctor Henry Deming, this is Calla Linwood" Sarah introduced them.

"Where did she come from?"

"Where do you think?" Sarah pointed up "Don't worry about it too much Henry, but listen out for a big announcement in the next hour or so."

"A big announcement; about what?" Henry begged.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be waiting for it as well" she grinned "Come on you two."

"Hey... I've got a question" Calla asked as the trio drove away from the indoor farm "Why do you call these cats THE Princess and THE Moon?"

"Oh, that happened quite a while ago" Blue smiled as he reminisced "Their names were originally Sabrina and Moonlight. One day I noticed when Sabrina's playfulness got too much for him, Moon would take every opportunity to sneak off and hide. Whenever Princess Sabrina noticed his absence, she would start searching everywhere for him amongst the plants. I thought she looked like a tiny tiger hunting for prey and so one day I wrote a little story about a tiger princess who would hunt at night by the light of the moon, and then would spend most of the day searching for where the moon had gone when the sun rose. In the story, she eventually found the moon in a high mountain cave where he was hiding from her because she was so wild and her claws were so sharp. I called the story 'The Princess and The Moon'; get it?"

"You're weird" Calla declared.

"Says the girl in the funny hat" Blue threw back.

"HEY! I need this hat for protection from the sun."

"If you have noticed yet, you're underground?" Blue smirked.

"Shut up cave boy" Calla pouted but did not remove her hat.

* * *

 **Okay, it's true the names of most chapters are weird and don't make much sense, but there was a reason for this one. I always write the chapter first then proof read it and look for a name and when I noticed it contained chat about both kitties and head gear, I instantly thought of my favourite movie musical High Society. At the Jazz Festival, Bing Crosby opens the song Now You Has Jazz with the line "Dear gentlefolk of Newport, or maybe I should say hats and cats..."**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sometimes I get the feeling every few chapters could lead off with the words "And this is where the story really starts." This is one of those chapters.**

* * *

Chapter 16

Paradigm Shift

Back in his office, Professor Linton Adisa read through the short conversation thread between himself and Sage; a man he had never completely trusted. He shook his head and sighed as he stood, picked up a tablet computer and literally trudged towards the door, pausing only to consider his reflection in a mirror.

When the day had begun he had felt so alive with the first launch of a new cycle going so smoothly, but now he felt old and he looked old; he also felt like somewhat of a fool for allowing himself to be so easily tricked. One of the department heads stood anxiously outside the doors to the AV room and smiled with relief when Linton finally rounded a corner and came into view.

"I'm glad you're here Professor, there are all kinds of rumours and theories going around about the sudden appearance of this girl."

"Of course there are" Linton Adisa smiled "after all this time, it could not be any other way.

Linton had been so caught up with the news about the ship Calla had brought to his attention, he had neglected to think about the answers to the many questions his friends and colleagues were bound to ask. This meeting was going to be unusual to say the least. As he entered the room, the first thing he noticed was everyone had huddled around Doctor Willow Pascal, one of the people who had pursued Calla through the Assembly Area, to engage in a little bit of rumour swapping. Fortunately Calla and her escort were nowhere to be seen. Their absence did not concern Linton because he wanted to have a word with the group before they tried to interrogate the poor girl. He walked to the podium on the left side of a blank screen and flicked on several switches.

"Please take your seats" he addressed the room "I have decided to turn on the external feed so I would like ask everyone in the complex to temporarily cease whatever it is they are doing and find the nearest monitor."

He waited a moment until most of the movement and chair shuffling had died down, and then began to speak; everyone was surprised to hear his normally strong voice was somewhat shaken.

"The importance of this morning's launch has paled into insignificance in light of the arrival of our visitor from the surface, but her arrival also pales when compared to the news she has brought to us."

As he spoke, Doctor Spencer led the children inside and they sat down near the door.

"To paraphrase an old saying, fasten your seatbelts everyone because his is where it all gets complicated."

He took a deep breath, sighed heavily and breathed in again.

"The information Calla Linwood has brought us suggests the situation on the outside is nowhere near as bad as we have always believed, although it is still far from perfect. We still have much to learn, but based on what the young lady has told me so far, I believe the war with the EFA may have ended many years ago and it seems the worst of the war didn't even reach most parts of the southern hemisphere."

A rumble of voices arose as those in the room expressed their obvious astonishment, confusion and disbelief to each other.

"Maybe things just settled down after the last of the colonists left Earth?" Doctor Quill Vieira called out when the noise subsided a little.

"Please everyone... please calm down" it took half a minute for the impromptu discussions to die down allowing Professor Adisa to continue.

"I do not yet have any answers to your many questions."

Linton could tell the main topic of discussion was, how long ago could they have safely reopened the complex and ventured outside; was it five years, ten perhaps or could it have been fourteen years and eleven months? Amos Hooke was the first one to put voice to some fiery accusations.

"Well the Mars Colony Council must be partly responsible for us being in the dark for so long because they knew we were locked away and have never given us any news about the situation on Earth. And they have been sending one way communications here since the day we were sealed in" the angry engineer stated.

"I REFUSE TO JUMP TO ANY CONCLUSIONS" Professor Adisa thumped the podium "We have no way of knowing for sure, if anyone on Mars is even aware of what has been happening on this planet, but I must admit it, things just don't feel right to me. I'm sure there is more to uncover and I insist we do not rush into doing anything rash until we learn more."

"So do we just stay here, keep on launching supplies and hope for the best?" another department head asked.

"No, we are not sending anymore units into orbit in the near future."

"Look, I understand everyone is upset about this" Doctor Vieira noted "but can we be sure we are not putting people's lives at risk on Mars, if we shut down even for a short time?"

"I have at least two more things to tell you" Professor Adisa sighed again; he hated bringing these upsetting revelations to his friends "Those watching via the monitors can't see her but sitting on the other side of the room from me is Calla Linwood; the girl who stumbled across us this morning. She has told me that three members of her family came here by boat and landed next to... a large ship."

It took a while for the significance of Linton Adisa's words to sink in but instead of more talking, everyone in the room just sat in stunned silence while the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock trotted around the room and admired his handy work.

"What are the chances this is our ship?" Doctor Willow Pascal asked.

"I am 99% sure it is our ship" Linton replied "Calla says it's a huge tanker with support legs on the sides. Before I came here to talk with you all, I took the liberty of contacting Mars; I told Commander Sage that we had exhausted our supplies."

"But we've still got enough for about eighteen months or so" Amos Hooke interrupted again.

"Yes I'm sorry to admit it but I lied and told him that we were now out of commission permanently unless we could get replacement supplies from the ship; and so I informed him we could make an attempt to find and salvage the vessel even though I knew it was only about thirty kilometres away."

The whole crowd began to look very confused.

"Sage told me the same thing we were told fifteen years ago; the ship had been lost at sea and no salvage was possible. I also suggested to him that we leave the complex and seek help at launch sites in North America and Europe as well as the other Railgun sites, but he insisted we should stay put down here" Professor Adisa stated.

Silence hung in the room like a dark shroud but Calla could not understand why. She did not know who this Commander Sage was or why the people here seemed to put so little faith in his words.

"Sage seemed adamant about us hiding for the sake of our own survival. He thanked us for our efforts and our incredible achievements over the years in near impossible conditions and effectively said it was now finished."

Willow Pascal tried to get her head around it all "Does that mean you intend to follow his advice? And I have to ask; if the ship is close by, why wouldn't Mars Base want us to use the equipment on board? Could it be possible Mars has been self sufficient for a long time now and they never bothered to tell us?

"I'm beginning to wonder" Amos noted "Some of us have sacrificed forty years of our lives for this project; was any if it even necessary? Why would he lie about the ship and conditions on the surface?"

"Once again people, I don't have all the answers yet but I know for sure Mars did need the supplies and equipment we were sending when we went into lockdown. Sage did not seem upset or worried about us shutting down, but he did not appear to be happy about us leaving Indonesia. It's normally not easy to correctly gauge someone's mood from what they type, but I feel sure I'm on the money this time.

Calla leant over and whispered to Sarah Spencer "Did that person just say that you've been down here for forty years?"

"No but some people here have been working on the project for that long."

"So how long have you been living underground?"

"Only the last fifteen years" Sarah replied.

Calla considered what Sarah had said; she was thirteen years old and could not imagine what it must have been like to have spent her entire life in this gloomy place.

"I know many of those listening to us throughout the complex will have thousands of questions and comments, but I would like to request quite strongly, for you send them to your department heads by text. For now I propose that we concentrate on making contact with Calla's father on the surface while some of the engineering teams beginning preparations to re-open the surface tunnels. I don't intend to stay down here any longer than it will take to get the doors open."

That last proposition from Professor Adisa had the greatest effect on everyone, for although they had always known survival on the surface was possible and achievable, they had also held the long term belief that opening up the ramps to the surface, was a guarantee of their eventual destruction from one of many possible sources.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Doctor Quill Vieira asked cautiously to a general murmur of agreement.

"To be honest, no" the Professor replied "but in light of what's happened, I am no longer willing to just stay down here in fear. We now know that some of what we were told was untrue, so what else might we discover? I want to find out."

* * *

 **The truth is, this is one of those chapters that needed to be included to get information from character to character but because not much else happens, these bits can be pretty dull. This is why I will post the next chapter tomorrow to give the story a little more pop.**

 **Maybe I could have shortened this chapter to one sentence:  
Linton called a meeting, told everyone the ship was outside... and they were all a bit miffed.**

 **Don't forget to tune in for the next chapter, for that will be where the story really starts.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Have you ever watched the sci-fi series Firefly? Everyone in the show speaks English and Chinese. I was watching it one day with the subtitles turned on and when two characters argued in Chinese, the subtitle stated "Speaks Alien Language." I wonder if the person responsible for typing out those subtitles, ever found out about their mistake?**

* * *

Chapter 17

Bad News for Some

Most people would sing, hum or whistle a bright and happy tune when doing housework; this was a good way to help keep their minds off the dull tasks they were forced to perform. Luis Dias however hummed a tune that was deep and full of passion as he fished out the sock his eldest daughter had left behind a sofa cushion. With time on his hands Luis had made what he felt was the deal of a life time with his daughters. He would take over the girls morning chores and in return, they would not come home until dinner time.

Luis noted the time was 11:27am.

Just over half an hour to go and April would walk through the door to find a spotless habitat, a salad vinaigrette with croutons waiting on the table and a man with the aroma of coconut in his hair. With his right hand on his stomach and his left hand to the side, Luis swung his hips as he danced into the next room to deposit the offensive sock in a laundry hamper. He then stepped back into the main living area and scanned the room, looking for anything April may find offensively out of place.

"Maybe a quick vacuum" he mumbled.

But before Luis could take one step towards the cleaning closet, the front door opened and April stepped in ready to tear her husband's head off and use it as a football.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" April cried out in anger.

"I um... cleaned up and made you a..."

"I don't care about all that" April fumed as she stomped towards the condemned man.

"Really? I thought you'd be pleased."

"How can I be happy about a clean house when everywhere I go, people are congratulating me?"

"Uh oh" Luis stomach turned upside down.

"Do you know why everyone is congratulating me?" April feigned sweetness.

"I think I've got a pretty good idea" Luis admitted.

Apparently half the base believes I'm having another baby, and they are doing their level best to make sure the other half knows before LUNCH TIME!"

"Well you see dear..."

"Luis; what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking how nice it would be to have another..."

"So you made an application to be included in the next round of planned population increase."

"Yes I did."

"WITHOUT TELLING ME?"

"I thought it would be a nice surprise; just like this delicious repast I have prepared for you" Luis gestured to the dining table.

April sat heavily on the couch and buried her head in her hands.

"I can't believe you did this" she sighed.

"But sweetness, we have often discussed having another child; and you said..."

"I know what I said Luis, but I also remember saying not until you've retired from space duties. I wanted you to be home for the next child."

"But that's just it my flower, I will be here. I got the call early this morning; my next trip to Earth has been cancelled and it is possible there will be no more in the foreseeable future."

The Pink-Headed Fruit Dove of Frustration clocked off for the day and went home just as the Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise started work for the afternoon.

"What?" April gasped "Why?"

"Apparently the supply launches are done; finished" Luis informed her.

"Completely?"

"So Commander Sage tells me. Where are you going?"

To Luis's surprise, his wife stood and exited their home before the words were even out of his mouth.

"She never even smelled my hair" he lamented.

* * *

As April hurried off to who knows where, another man on Mars was also in trouble because of his actions, but with many more important people.

"I have just come from a meeting with the Deep Council and needless to say, none of them are very happy with you and neither am I" Olive Roux snorted.

"Oh come on" Neville Sage huffed "After fifteen years I had no warning Adisa was going to try and contact Mars Base and all things considered, I think I made the right decision."

"The Mars Deep Council and I disagree most strongly with your assessment. The first message from Professor Adisa since we sealed them all underground? You should have woken me or told them to wait for a later contact, not given made up orders as if they were your subordinates. I know it's been a long time but you know what Adisa is like."

"I thought it would be better if they just stay where they were" Sage insisted "Less chance of them finding out anything."

"What could they find? We covered our tracks completely and it's not as if they could do anything about it even if they did discover the truth."

"You're forgetting the ship" Sage sneered.

"I'm not forgetting anything; that ship is on the bottom of the ocean."

"If the EFA had sunk that ship, they would have reported it."

"Not necessarily" Roux tried to convince herself "It could have been done by one of the lower factions."

"Who would have reported it to their leaders, who in turn would have reported it to the members of the Earth Deep Council; I'm telling you, that ship could be anywhere.

"Listen Sage, I know I can't be sure about the ship, but I am sure about Professor Linton Adisa. If you, as a member of the military, tell him to stay put, he will see it as an infringement on his authority and what's more, it will pique his suspicions."

"Don't worry about it" Sage waved Olive off with a sleazy grin "I made sure to massage his ego well enough."

"I know what you said, I read the transcript and that's why I'm worried. Linton would have seen right through your butt kissing. I'm gonna have to try and make contact with him. I just hope you haven't pushed him too far because if you have, he won't necessarily believe anything I tell him."

"I'll still think we've got nothing to worry about. They've completely exhausted the materials they need and nobody has been manufacturing rocket parts since we left, so no one on Earth is going anywhere."

"You sound very confident for someone who has no idea what's been happening on Earth for fifteen years" Olive shook her head.

"To be frank, I'm surprised the ol' planet still has anyone living on it at all; I thought Sholf-4 would have wiped it out long ago" Sage shrugged "You know and I know; it's only a matter of time until they are all dead anyway."

Roux's disgust with Sage was plain to see as her face turned red with rage.

"I don't want to hear you talking like that ever again. Everybody on this planet has family they had to leave behind and..."

"Well it's not my fault if they're so naive..." Sage interrupted.

"BE QUIET!" Roux screamed. "As I was saying, if anyone hears you belittling the lives of their loved ones, you'll spend the next five years in sanitation; do I make myself clear?"

"You don't have the power to..." Sage started but was interrupted by a disembodied voice.

"Maybe she doesn't Commander, but we do."

The voice was electronically disguised but Sage knew it was a member of the Deep Council.

"You have been warned" the voice continued "and you are forbidden from making contact with anyone off world, including the MTV."

Sage opened his mouth intending to argue his point, but soon thought better of it.

"Yes sir" he relented sarcastically "then with your permission."

And without waiting for permission to be acknowledged, Sage rose and left the room.

"I would like to apologise for not keeping Sage in line" Olive stated.

"We in the Deep Council are aware of how difficult he can be" the voice on the speaker declared "And no one could have foreseen such an unexpected communiqué from Professor Adisa after all these years."

"Thank you sir, but as you know it was I who recommended Sage for the Mars base."

"And he has been a great asset Premier. We just hope he continues to be so; for his own sake."

* * *

Sport was never easy at the best of times; fun yes, but not easy. Sport for the children of Mars though, brought with it a whole new dimension of possibilities and pain. The 1/3 gravity meant the wearing of weighted clothing to give a person's muscles a proper workout, but the same could not be done with sporting equipment. To triple the weight of a tennis racquet would increase its mass to such a degree, a player would overbalance when swinging it; and the ball would become nothing less than a projectile weapon. One can just imagine what injuries would result from a game of dodge ball.

"Time out please" Abigail Dias requested.

The communicator in her arm band briefly vibrated to catch her attention but the low frequency buzz indicated to her the message was official and important.

"You'll get no complaints from me" Holly Duncan declared as she collapsed on the court.

"Think fast!" Saffron cried out as she hurled the red ball at Holly.

"Hey; we're on a time out" the seated girl complained as she deflected the spherical projectile of pain.

"Yeah but I just love to see the look of panic on your face" Saffron grinned.

"Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to play this game on Earth?" Sudhi Mandal put forward as he joined the two girls "The ball would be so heavy."

"You should hear my Dad; he goes off on a rant every time I say something is too heavy" Holly whined.

"Mine too; 'Living on Mars is making you weak son' he's always saying." Sudhi put on a deep voice and tried to sound like his father.

"You were born on Earth Sarah" Saffron noted "Was it really so difficult?"

"I was only fourteen months old when I left!" the games umpire protested "How should I know what Earth was like?"

The short conversation came to an abrupt end when Abigail returned with a stunned look on her face.

"I'm not going" she declared.

"Good; then we can finish the game" Sudhi tactlessly noted.

"What are you talking about Abi?" Saffron could see her older sister was upset.

"I'm not going to Earth; all that training, all that effort, all for nothing."

"Well technically speaking, you were never really going to Earth, only into L5 orbit while your father..."

"Shut up Sudhi" Sarah demanded "Can't you see she upset."

Abigail tried not to cry as Sarah hugged her tight. The young lady had certainly put a superhuman effort into qualifying to be an Astronaut Pilot Trainee.

"Why would they do this to you Abi?" Holly huffed "You jumped through every hoop they demanded of you; they can't just change their minds and kick you out now!"

"The flight's been cancelled because there are no more supplies to pick up."

This new information stunned the small group into a brief silence.

"So this is it" Sarah sighed "We're finally on our own."

"Does this mean..." Holly had difficulty getting her words out "...everyone on Earth is... dead?"

"I doubt it Holly" Sarah comforted the young girl with a brave smile "There could be hundreds of reasons why this has happened; we just have to find out which one it is."

It was difficult for the five friends to put their feelings into words. They had often talked about how great it would be if they could go to the home of their ancestors. To walk outside without a pressure suit, to swim in an ocean; just like the people they had seen in the entertainment recordings.

The possibility had always felt very unlikely, but now it seemed completely impossible.

* * *

 **Today I saw a post on Facebook that made me cry a little. It was a close up picture of four fuzzy kitty paws with these words written underneath.**

 **No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat.**

 **Still missing you Moon =^..^=**


	18. Chapter 18

**Today I found out something very interesting about the Cern Hadron Collider; they don't actually use it to collide Hadrons at all.**

* * *

Chapter 18

The Machine

Being very careful not to spill any of the precious drinking water, Emerson emptied the last of the solar stills into a sealed container before placing it into the sea to keep it cool. He then refilled the evaporation trays with sea water. The breeze from the west helped to keep him cool, but occasionally the wind would drop and the humidity would become unbearable. The only thing to do was to sit in the shade and rest till the air began to move bringing relief, and hope a cool change would blow in sooner rather than later.

"I'm sure she's okay" Emerson tried to reassure his father as he returned to the shade.

"Maybe I should climb back up to the bow of the tanker and search the area with the binoculars" Maynard pondered.

"You wouldn't be able to stay up there very long" Emerson noted "You'd start to cook before you got halfway up the ladder.

"I just feel like I'm going to go crazy sitting here. I've got another idea; no matter which way she went, she would not have gone far, so let's split up and go along the beach for about..."

Maynard stopped as soon as the sound entered his ears and it was plain to see from the look in his sons eyes, Emerson heard it too. It was a rapid rhythmic drumming on something metal. Is sounded far off but at the same time it was coming from only a short distance away amongst the trees. The two men scrambled to their feet and cautiously walked towards the unexpected noise, unsure of what they would find and what new trouble it may bring.

At times like this, a parents mind can run wild with unfounded fear and Maynard found himself imagining a long forgotten, automated machine that had maimed and possibly killed his precious daughter. The noise was slowly increasing in volume but not because Maynard and Emerson had found the round metal structure from which the sound was emitting, but because whatever it was had almost reached the top.

"Don't get too close" Maynard warned "we don't know what's going to come out of there."

Both of the anxious men assumed the machine was about to appear any second but it took over three minutes as the drumming grew steadily louder. When at last the head of a strange machine emerged from the hole, the whole thing stopped moving and hummed quietly.

"What the hell is that?" Emerson gasped at the odd contraption.

It appeared to be made specifically for the tube it had just breached; its body could not be seen behind the head, but the observers could see three rubber caterpillar tracks that had propelled it up the tube, protruding from the hole."

"Okay we've arrived" a voice came from the machine to the surprise of the Linwood men "Just let me pan the camera a bit."

A small electric motor whirred into life as the head of the device lowered itself and turned to the right. As Maynard and Emerson came into view of the lens, a familiar and very excited voice burst out of the vent crawler.

"THAT'S THEM; THAT'S MY DAD! HI DAD, IT'S ME CALLA."

"Calla?" Maynard gasped as his heart began to race "Wh... where are you?"

"She's safe Mr. Linwood" the first voice informed the distraught father "She's about five kilometres below you and twelve kilometres north."

"WHY DID YOU KIDNAP MY DAUGHTER? GIVE HER BACK; NOW!" Maynard yelled franticly.

"Calm down Dad I wasn't kidnapped; I fell down here."

"You fell... FIVE KILOMETRES?" he gasped again "How bad are you hurt?"

"I'm fine Dad; it's some kind of... what is it again?"

"She fell down a pressure release vent; surprisingly she is in pretty good condition Mr Linwood."

"I've got a few bruises and I hurt my arm when I fell on Blue, but apart from that, I'm fine."

"You fell in glue?" Emerson asked.

"You're the one with glue in his ears" Calla answered her brother "I said BLUE you idiot, he's another kid down here; he's got cats."

"Never mind the cats, how do we get to you?"

"I'm sorry to say that you can't at the moment" the first voice declared "but we are working on the problem and should have a time frame for you very soon."

"Who are you anyway" Maynard asked suspiciously.

"Oh sorry, I'm Doctor Sarah Spencer; I'm taking care of Calla till we can get her back to you."

"Just relax Dad, I'm absolutely fine" Calla tried to reassure him "You would not believe what it's like down here; there's even a farm with chickens no less. Sorry to leave you so quick, but we have to go now."

"Go?" Maynard interrupted "Where are you going?"

"We're down the end of a long and steep tunnel Dad" Calla responded "and we only came back down here to try and make contact with you. So just relax, do some fishing and I'll be with you soon."

"Perhaps in a day or so" Doctor Spencer noted.

"A DAY!?" Maynard exploded.

"Sorry sir, but we closed off all the surface tunnels fifteen years ago so it will take some effort to re-open one of them."

"I am not happy about this" Maynard made it known "just get it done as quickly as you can; if not sooner."

"Don't get all authoritarian on them Dad" Calla sighed "It wasn't the fault of anybody down here."

"We'll see you soon sir" Doctor Spencer said, and with those final words the machine shut down.

"I don't believe this" Maynard rubbed his forehead "Five kilometres underground?"

"And twelve to the north; only Calla could stuff up so royally" Emerson smirked.

"You're not helping son."

Now that she had made contact with her father and brother, Calla was feeling much more relaxed and so for the first time since her unexpected fall, her curiosity began to take priority once again.

"Why is this tunnel so steep?" she asked Doctor Spencer.

"It was built at the optimum angle for us to achieve a geostationary orbit for smaller launch objects and a stable high orbit for heavier ones" Blue answered to Calla's annoyance.

"I didn't ask you" she huffed "so just drive the tram and mind your business."

"But this tunnel is my..." he began before deciding not to push it; he still had a very strong memory of what this girl could be like when she was angry.

Calla stopped asking questions for a while; Blue had answered so casually as if the reason was obvious, but she had hardly understood anything he said and she did not like the feeling of not understanding.

Sarah Spencer took Calla to her quarters so the young girl could clean up a bit while Blue was sent off to prepare some lunch for them. He was quite surprised to find how everything had changed in the complex while he had been down in the centre of the Railgun tunnel. People were no longer just going about their tasks in preparation for another launch, but were rushing about, discussing and arguing with each other, pointing down corridors and pouring over plans or trying to work out where they were in relation to maps of the surface. All the while, the Goshawk of Upheaval ran around in tight circles squawking loudly at everyone who failed to see it as they passed by.

"All this is entirely your fault you know" Doctor Quill Vieira noted as he walked alongside Blue.

"My Fault; why?"

"You're the one that found that girl and brought her back here" the doctor smiled.

"But she FELL on me!"

"Relax Blue, I'm only teasing you. It's kind of exciting really; I had come to believe I would live and die down here, so it's good to know we'll soon see the surface world again."

"It'll be the first time for me" Blue realised as the butterflies in his stomach went into overdrive.

"Not quite my boy; remember you were born on the surface, but you were only a few days old when you were brought down here."

"Well I'm still looking forward to seeing it. So where you headed Doc?"

"I just got word from Linton that we've started work on the old Entry Store ramp. It's a long way from the coast but it's only a kilometre long and eight hundred metres below the surface. I thought I'd better stand by just in case anyone had a little accident and found themselves in need of my services."

"I wish I could go with you, but I have to get something to eat for Doctor Spencer and that annoying little ungrateful pest."

"Oh my, you seem to have changed your mind about her in the last few hours."

"Sorry Doc, but I can't seem to do anything right in her eyes" Blue shook his head "She asks questions but gets angry when I answer her and also she doesn't like it if I even look at her. Does she expect me walk around with my eyes shut?"

"Calm down Blue, she's just different that's all."

"She's just crazy; I think I'll join you as soon as I'm done with the food trays" he decided "Calla is Sarah's problem now."

The White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern chirped softly as Quill Vieira watched the young man storm off. He could not help but feel sorry for Blue, having grown up with only adult professionals, scientists and scholars for company; he had not been prepared for a wider world of diverse ages and personalities.

* * *

 **I'm at the stage where I finally know how this story will end but I still have many chapters to write before I get there. It feels like the ol' Pink-headed Fruit Dove of Frustration is nesting in my computer.**


	19. Chapter 19

**You'll never guess what I learnt today. If a person had legs like the back legs of a Flea, they would be able to jump over the Eiffel Tower. I must admit it would be a pretty impressive trick but it would not be good for a bus driver like me; every time I had to hit the brakes, I'd punch my feet through the firewall.**

 **Also I already look ridiculous when I try to dance.**

* * *

Chapter 19

Good News for Others

There were many things about the secret Deep Council even Olive Roux did not know. How many of them were there? How did they get control of Mars even before the first human had set foot on the planet? Were they all hidden in plain sight and were any of them also members of the Mars Citizens Council?

Sometimes the Deep Council would order her to push a certain line in Mars Base policy, and the people on the Citizens Council would be divided on the issue. Olive began to suspect those who supported her must also be Deep Council members, but then she noticed some of these people would not support her in other issues. Did this mean they were not in the Deep Council, or were they just trying to throw her off track? Sometimes it was just all too confusing.

"Florian Klein and April Dias are in my outer office requesting I reconsider the idea of a second Mars colony. They want to redirect the current load of supplies coming in from Earth to a suitable site" Premier Roux stated clearly even though she was alone in the room.

"Yes we are aware of the latest developments; what's more we are not happy with the liberties taken by Commander Sage" the electronically altered voice stated.

"Do you want me to continue to discourage the second base idea?" Olive asked.

"No; having multiple sites was always part of our plan but the risk of the second colony making unauthorised contact with Earth was just too great. We in the Deep Council believe the risk can now be managed satisfactorily."

"But I believe Linton Adisa will try to make contact again" Olive protested.

"Yes but with supplies from Earth coming to an end, we would be justified in not giving the second colony interplanetary communications, so the risk of him making unexpected contact with April Dias would be zero. We also intend to attempt contact with him first to ascertain his plans and state of mind. The mess Sage left us must be cleaned up and so the Council has decided to send the MTV on one final mission to Earth."

"But why sir?" Olives surprise was evident.

"We need information Premier. Sage may have been crass and tactless about the whole situation but just like him, we never believed the supplies from Professor Adisa's team would continue for fifteen years. To be honest it is astounding to know there is still any life on Earth at all, considering the years of bombardment they have suffered."

"So you want to find out the condition of the planet?"

"Precisely right Premier Roux. We need to be sure there will be no unexpected arrivals from Earth. A small unplanned population rise on Mars would be difficult to manage but if fifty or more suddenly appeared, we would not be able to cope at this stage of our development."

"Adisa says he has run out of equipment and supplies" Roux offered.

"And we must both verify this information and make sure there is no hope of him finding any more. Who was scheduled for the next flight?"

"Luis Dias and Jarred Kinderman, along with Trainee Abigail Dias."

"Have Sage replace Kinderman" the disembodied voice commanded.

"And what about young Abigail?" Roux asked.

There was a brief silence before Olive received her answer.

"We have decided she may still go; Luis Dias would not dare take any undesired action with his daughter's life on the line."

"Very good sir; I'll see to it.

"And make sure that idiot Sage does not let the name Linton Adisa slip out; we still believe he is the weakest link in our chain."

"Yes; I will be sure to make the situation very clear to him" Olive agreed.

* * *

Sitting quietly in the outer office, Florian Klein removed a small receiver from his right ear and contemplated it. He thought back to the fear and excitement he felt when he first landed on the red planet along with his three colleagues. Forty five years had passed and now he was the only member of the first construction team still alive.

"April, did you know there was a time when some people on Earth believed the Moon landings were faked?"

Florian's words caught April by surprise as she worked on her list of requests.

"Umm, yes I think I read something about it when I was studying modern history" she replied.

"None of the scientific evidence would convince these people; they thought it was nothing more than a big conspiracy to divert billions of dollars into secret government projects."

"Really? How interesting" April said politely as she wondered why Florian was telling her this.

"Scientific proof aside, there was one thing that should have convinced everyone the Apollo missions were fact and not fiction."

"And what was that Florian?"

"Men of a certain age my dear" Florian stated as if his words had great meaning.

"You've totally lost me" April admitted.

"It is very difficult to keep anything a secret forever because the older a person gets, the less they want to keep that secret. There were thousands of people around the world who worked on the Apollo programme and do you know how many leaked information about a secret conspiracy to the media? Can you guess how many made deathbed confessions about their role in covering it all up?"

"No I can't; how many Florian?"

"None April; none at all."

"So if no one who worked on the programme ever admitted it was faked, then it must have been real" April nodded.

"Precisely my dear."

The distinguished looking German suddenly looked very frail to April's eyes as his head dropped and his voice fell silent. She did not know what to say because she had no idea what was wrong, so April just reached out and put her hand on his. A few minutes later he finally spoke again.

"Not much longer and I will turn seventy."

"Not for a while yet" April smiled reassuringly.

"Nevertheless April, I am a man of a certain age."

* * *

Back at the humble Dias abode, Luis found it was not his day with the women in his life as his eldest daughter took her turn to vent her anger.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about the mission being cancelled" Abigail sighed.

Luis had hoped he would not have to have this conversation with Abigail, but deep down he knew he couldn't avoid it.

"Has anyone ever said to you, the only reason you have made it this far as a trainee at such a young age, is because you are my daughter?" Luis asked.

"Sudhi does sometime, but he's just messing around; and he's jealous."

"How do you reply to his accusation?"

"I tell him I worked hard to get this far; also he has the same teachers and trainers I do, so he knows you have nothing to do with it."

"Exactly right; when it comes to Space Corps business, I am not your father but your superior officer and so I must act in an appropriate manner."

"But you if knew this morning the next flight had been cancelled, you could have told me" Abigail said accusingly.

"Your orders did not come through me; if they had I would have informed you straight away. I even asked your mother not to talk about it until you had received word officially."

"Mom knew too; you can talk to her about it, but not to me?"

"Your mother is not in the Space Corps and neither is your sister."

"SAFFY KNEW TOO?"

"Of course not and don't raise your voice to me young lady. I knew Saffron could not keep herself from telling you so I did not say anything to her. You have to learn April that we can not anticipate orders and act as we please. Our orders should have been posted at the same time but as you are a trainee, they would have gone down the line through your instructors first. You must learn to accept this if we are going to continue to work together."

Abigail did not want to accept it, but she knew she must. The young lady stomped across the room towards the door but stopped as her brain finally managed to lock up her emotions and take control once again.

"I'm sorry Dad; it's just the news came as a shock in the middle of a game."

"Then you have learnt orders can come at any time and could say anything; you must be ready to take it on the chin."

"I will; thanks Dad" she turned back towards her father "Permission to hug sir?"

"Granted trainee" Luis grinned.

Just like a perfectly timed movie scene, an incoming call signal sounded from the computer as soon as father and daughter had finished their dialog. When Luis took the call, Abigail noticed her father greeting the official looking face of Premier Olive Roux on the screen.

"I suppose I'd better give you some privacy" Abigail turned to leave.

"It's alright my dear; what I'm calling about concerns you too" Roux stated.

"What can we do for you Premier?" Luis asked.

"I have some good news and some good news for you" Olive smiled.

"I must admit that would be a pleasant change Premier."

"I have just ended a meeting with April and Florian; your wife was quite pleased when she heard I would be supporting her plan for the second settlement in front of the Civic Council later today."

"I am sure she was very happy to hear this Premier" Luis smiled at the thought of a happy April "If I may ask, what made you change your mind?"

"You may Luis; I had always hoped to send later supplies to a second colony but since the current shipment will be the last, it was a case of now or never."

"What's the other good news Ms. Roux? Abigail interrupted.

"I believe we need to find out what the current conditions are on Earth and this could be our last chance for many years to come. So your trip has been reinstated and repurposed as a planetary survey mission; find out what you can and bring us a complete report."

Olive Roux could see the glee in Abigail's eyes as the young girl bit her bottom lip.

"And yes Abigail, you are reinstated as a crew member too" Olive smiled back.

"To be honest Premiere, I don't think April will be happy about that last part; she was relieved to hear the trip had been cancelled" Luis admitted.

"You may be right Luis, but hopefully she will be so busy getting things ready for the new colony, it will take her mind off Abigail leaving."

"Don't count on it" Abigail noted.

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading; it makes life worthwhile knowing you're all out there... somewhere.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Fun Fact about Australia: In May and June 1835, the area which is now central and northern Melbourne was explored by John Batman. who negotiated a purchase of 2400 sq km with Wurundjeri elders. Two years later, the settlement was named Batmania.**

 **Such a pity they changed the name to Melbourne eh?**

* * *

Chapter 20

Growing Tension

Living in an underground complex was nobody's idea of a perfect life and even though Calla was glad that she would not be trapped down there much longer, she was still quite happy to take advantage of the shower facilities in Doctor Spencer's quarters. Warm fresh water was very different to the cool salty equivalent and her shower had an odd little musical accompaniment as Sarah Spencer's cat Jeffery rolled around on the bathroom floor; the jingling of his collar bell joyfully filling the air. After she was finished dressing, she opened the door that led into the bedroom and heard Blues voice from the room beyond.

"I hope you don't mind it's just basic stuff" he was saying to Sarah "I going to go and help Willow's team get the entry tunnel re-opened so Calla can get back to her family."

As the young girl eavesdropped from behind the slightly ajar door, she began to feel a little guilty for the way she had been acting towards Blue. He had done so much for her and she had treated him quite poorly.

"The sooner she leaves, the better I'll like it" he continued.

"That's not very nice Blue" Sarah scolded.

"Yeah well... neither is she" he stated bluntly before leaving.

As soon as the door was shut, Calla came into the room with Jeffery the Jingle Cat following at her heels.

"Who does that little jerk think he is" she hissed.

"Oh you heard him?"

"I heard him alright, and I'll be glad to get out of here too and then I'll never have to see his ugly face again."

"Please forgive him Calla" Sarah begged "You have to admit it my dear, you have been a little terse with Blue. He's just confused because he's never met someone so young before; he just doesn't know how to behave around you."

"I'm not a kid you know; I'm almost fourteen."

"I'm thirty five and until today, I was the youngest person in Blues life; and I'm two years older than his mother."

"I thought you were his mother" Calla stated with surprise.

"No she died not long after Blue was born."

"Yeah we had a lady back in New Zealand who never recovered after giving birth; it's so sad" Calla sighed.

"It wasn't..." Sarah was going to say more, but the memory of the fiery explosion that took her friends life flashed through her mind.

"Yes it is sad" Sarah agreed.

Calla looked down at the tray of food on the table and her mouth began to water. It was an odd combination of fresh bread, a pasta Bolognese and salad with a fried egg on the side. Blue had called it basic but she could not remember the last time she had eaten anything half as good.

* * *

Blue spent the next several hours helping Willow Pascals team of engineers with a few of the surface vehicles needed when the exit was opened. The smaller electric machines only needed to have batteries fitted after they had been given thorough clean and systems check, but the larger ones with diesel engines needed to have a quite substantial amount of restoration work done. One of the most important tasks was having their tanks and fuel lines completely drained, so the fifteen year old fuel could be re-refined and tested before the motors were turned over.

"It's a bit different from setting up and testing an Electric Ion Drive, eh Amos?" Professor Adisa commented to one of the frustrated mechanics.

"I did NOT... expect to get stuck inside the 'OWW' engine bay of a twenty year old truck at THIS stage of my life!" Amos Hooke declared annoyingly.

"I'm sorry but we may need these vehicles if the ship is indeed intact."

"And if it's not, you WILL pay for this Linton."

"Of that my friend, I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever."

"Pass me that 'OWW ME FINGER', that 12mm box spanner and a rag."

"Say please" Linton grinned.

"JUST GIVE ME THE SPANNER OR BUG OFF!"

"Sorry Amos" the professor decided that teasing a mechanical engineer with a sore finger and bad temper was not the best idea he had come up with during his long and distinguished career.

After another few minutes of grunting, swearing and wriggling, Amos Hooke finally emerged from underneath the three and a half tonne four wheel drive with the vehicle's starter motor in hand. At the same time Blue arrived back from delivering a two hundred litre drum of diesel fuel to the chemical lab.

"Just in time lad" Amos handed over the small electric motor "give this a clean and a bench test. By the time you're done, I should have the coolant, sump oil and brake fluids ready for the lab too."

"Okay Mr. Hooke" he took the starter from Amos and almost dropped it; the small machine was heavier than it looked.

"Before you crawl back down there Amos, has Blue said anything to you about... well... anything really" Professor Adisa enquired.

"No he hasn't. I think he is looking forward to going outside for the first time, but he seems more annoyed than excited."

"Yes he does" Linton Adisa mumbled as he followed after the troubled boy.

"So I'll get back to work then, shall I? Amos Hooke asked no one in particular "Okay, yes why not."

"You seem ill at ease" the professor surprised Blue in the middle of a daydream.

"Oh hello sir; what makes you say that?"

"A few reasons Blue, including the fact that you are about to hook that twelve volt starter motor up to a twenty four volt truck battery" he smiled "Doctor Spencer called and told me what you said about Calla."

Blue was very annoyed, but not with Sarah. Living in a closed community meant nobody could keep any bad feelings bottled up for very long. He was aware deep down inside how his words would come back to haunt him as soon as he'd said them. At least he knew it was not gossip, but a genuine attempt to help him with his anger.

"I'm sorry sir, I tried to be nice to her but she doesn't make it easy" Blue lifted his head "You see this dry blood under my chin? She did that with a screwdriver after she fell on me and ever since then, she's been rude and dismissive."

"And is that a good enough reason to be just as rude to her Blue?"

"Don't tell me Doctor Spencer told Calla what I said?"

"No, the young lady heard you herself; don't forget she was very scared, so we certainly haven't seen her at her best."

"Yeah... well... she'll be gone soon so it won't matter."

"Do you really believe that Blue?"

"Well... no."

"Do you really want her to leave, thinking that you hate her?"

"ALRIGHT, I'll apologise" the young man relented.

"She seems to be quite prideful, so an apology may not be enough."

"Well she's not getting any more unless she apologises as well" Blue was adamant as he stormed off to get another battery.

Professor Adisa gave another one of his famous sighs as he shook his head; he knew once the ramp was opened, life would never go back to what Blue considered normal ever again.

* * *

Calla had to admit the food was good; in fact it was very good.

"So how come you didn't look at my arm instead of that other doctor? I don't think I would have been as nervous if it had been you."

"I'm not that kind of doctor" Sarah Spencer smiled "About ninety five percent of the people here have a doctorate in at least one field of study."

"So what are you then?"

"I'm a physicist but I also do a little engineering on the side."

"Oh... I have almost no idea what that means" Calla smirked.

The first four bars of Beethoven's Ode to Joy sounded out from the corner of the room, making Calla jump slightly.

"It's just someone calling me" Sarah Spencer explained as she arose and went over to her computer.

She pressed the F12 key and Blues face appeared on the screen.

"Oh hello there, and what can I do for you?"

"I wanted to speak to Calla; I assume she's still there."

"Yes she's here" Sarah admitted "but I'm not sure she'll want to..."

"It's alright" Calla interrupted "I'll speak to him."

The young girl rose from her seat and walked to the screen in a slow offish manor; when she finally arrived, Blue looked down at his feet as he talked.

"I err... wanted to apologise... for the way I spoke about you..." he began but did not get far.

"Yeah well, you should be" Calla burst out "I don't know what your problem is but you need to grow up."

"Well then" Blue huffed snidely "I'm glad we got that sorted. Someone will contact you when the surface tunnel is open and you'll be able to leave."

And with that said, the screen went blank.

"Okay then" Sarah crossed her arms and frowned "Now I'm on his side."

Calla did not say anything but she cursed her own short temper and wished she hadn't overreacted so quickly.

* * *

 **When the question is asked How much wood would a Woodchuck chuck, do they mean throw... or throw up?**


	21. Chapter 21

**In most countries, any student who would like to work towards one day becoming an Astronaut can follow certain steps to increase their chances of success. Step 1 is to get a good grounding in High School maths and science, along with a good understanding of all other subjects, before specialising in University.**

 **In Australia this is Step 2 because Step 1 is... don't be Australian. We have very backward politicians and our last Prime Minster declared when he was elected, that our future was in coal and wind generators were offensive (he didn't last long).**

* * *

21 The Eyes of a Child

"What happened to the electric motors?"

Professor Linton Adisa found himself in front of two huge metal inner doors. Beyond them lay a steep road tunnel almost five kilometres long. At the end of this tunnel were two more doors leading into the pit where the people of the railgun complex could lower the ramp and gain access to the surface world once again. The ramp and the metal doors were all operated by powerful electric motors; driving a worm gear for the doors and hydraulic pumps for the ramp. To Linton's surprise, the motors for the inner doors were missing.

"I had the boys take them both out" Willow explained.

"But why; how are we going to get the doors opened?" the frustrated professor exclaimed.

"Don't worry sir; I've already got one of the other engineering teams working on a reduction geared hand crank. It will take a while but we'll get 'em open."

"I still don't understand why you didn't use the motors Willow."

"They only needed a bit of work done but I don't expect the ramp motors to be in such good condition. There's bound to be moisture in the pit so they could be a total write off. But don't worry because my lads will have the two door motors cleaned, checked and ready to install before we need them. It may take us a while to check and replace some of the hydraulic lines too."

"Well I suppose you know what you're doing" Linton sighed again as he left.

"You can count on it" Willow declared.

As Linton walked back towards the main complex, he saw one of the workers hooking up a mid-sized truck to an electric forklift. As the smaller vehicle towed the larger one away, the professor noticed the huge warehouse, that had once been pack solid with vehicles, now held only an off road truck and a couple of four-wheel-drives.

"What happened to all the stuff that was here? He asked Sid Cartwright.

"We've transferred it all to some of the disused stores" Sid answered "The tunnel is half full of trucks and earth moving equipment so I thought we'd better make some room to put them here and clear the road when the doors are opened."

"You people really do think of everything" Linton admitted.

"Not everything" Sid grinned "I make it a habit never to think about Aardvarks."

"You silly twisted man" the professor laughed.

* * *

As the work slowly progressed on opening the giant doors, moving trucks and repairing machinery, Sarah took Calla on another little tour of the complex. They still only saw about one third and finished up near the exit Calla would soon be taking. Sarah hoped they would accidentally run into a certain young man and she was not disappointed. As a small group worked feverously to connect a scratch built gear box to the door mechanism, they found Blue replacing the radiator hose on one of the four-wheel-drive vehicles.

"How goes it? Sarah asked the dirt covered boy.

"This one just needs to have the fuel system primed and it will be ready to... oh... hello."

As Blue pulled his head out of the engine bay, he suddenly noticed who was standing with Sarah.

"Hey" Calla greeted although her eyes stayed firmly fixed on the floor to her left.

"Looking around?" Blue stated the obvious.

"Yeah umm, thanks for apologising earlier; Sarah says I shouldn't have bitten your head off."

"Okay... good. If you both will excuse me, Sid needs these tools back ASAP."

Blue nervously and rapidly exited with the tools Sid did not want or need; which was just as well because he left a few behind in his embarrassed rush.

The hours continued to drag on as more problems were found and more solutions were developed. When the first door had been opened just enough for a person to slip through, the tunnel light switch was thrown and no one was surprised when the tunnel was bathed in brilliant darkness.

"Find a spot for tunnel lights on the short list of important tasks" Willow ordered.

"Will do boss but the short list is now running into its third volume" Amos Hooke lamented.

With the first door finally opened, two small electric forklifts set off on a slow journey to the outer doors. They drove on the walkway, passed the many tonnes of equipment still blocking the road. Willow and Amos's small truck carried the first of the electric motors for the ramp while Sid Cartwright and Jeana Davey followed at a much slower pace as they threaded high voltage electrical cable along the side wall. If the motors on the outer doors were in serviceable condition, Willow wanted to be sure the power was connected when they got there.

* * *

Work continued as Maynard Linwood waited and worried on the surface. He and Emerson had retrieved their tents from the Star Runner and set up camp outside one of the less derelict buildings. All was quiet in the early evening as the two men sat back near their camp fire and digested the fish they had recently devoured.

"Dad; can you hear me Dad?" Calla's voice broke the silence.

Maynard jumped to his feet and sprinted towards the strange machine carrying his daughter's voice before falling flat on his face.

"Have a torch Dad" Emerson offered as he helped his father up.

There was still plenty of light in the sky but the setting sun left many tripping hazards hidden in the shadows.

"Dad; are you there?" Calla asked again.

"We're here honey. What's happened; why aren't you here yet?"

"Chill out Dad, they're working on it but it's gonna take a little longer than first thought."

"I'm not happy about this Calla; maybe I should come down there."

"I wouldn't if I were you Dad. The slope isn't too steep but it's still a long way down and you wouldn't have someone at the other end to break your fall."

"It sounds like they're just making excuses; is someone making you say these things?"

"Hardly Dad; the only other person here is Sarah and I think I could take her down if I had too."

"I'd like to see you try" a second voice stated followed by the sound of two girls laughing.

"So how long before you can get out?" Emerson tried to be the voice of reason.

"We're not sure at the moment" Sarah Spencer informed the Linwood men.

"Take a guess" Maynard ordered menacingly.

"We've got access to the tunnel but the outer doors are corroded. You have to consider sir, these doors were designed to keep a small army at bay and they're doing their job very well. We've got a team armed with plasma cutters trying to make an access hole in one of the doors, so we'll be starting work on the ramp soon."

"And then you'll bring my daughter back?"

"Err yes but don't hold your breath. Based on the condition of the outer doors, most of us believe the ramp will be the ultimate pain in the butt; but we'll get there in the end."

"Still not happy" Maynard declared again.

"I've been watching them work Dad and they're doing their best, so don't go bananas when we do get back."

Maynard did not like being told off by Calla. He had every right to be worried about her and if he wanted to go bananas, he'd go full commercial plantation. So as soon as Sarah and Calla had said their goodbyes and gone, the concerned father climbed up on the squat metal structure and examined the machine half protruding from the vent in the centre.

"Dad... what are you doing?" Emerson asked concernedly.

"If we can get this thing out of the hole, maybe we could lower a rope down and..."

"I remember the figure of five kilometres being mentioned Dad."

"We've got to try something" Maynard insisted.

"And if you fall down and die, what happens to Calla then? And what if she tries to make contact again but can't because you've broken the only means of communication?"

After a giving a deep sigh that would have impressed Linton Adisa, Maynard climbed down and spoke sternly to his seventeen year old son.

"Me wise father, you ignorant child; so stick to the script okay?"

"Anything you say Aristotle" Emerson grinned.

The pair returned to the camp fire and continued being worried and board in equal measure.

"If you think about it Dad, she must be safe down there."

"Okay then Emerson; tell about this new insight you've had."

"Calla had disappeared, we didn't know where she was and we never would have thought she was deep underground. If she had been taken, all the kidnappers had to do was keep quiet and stay out of sight, but look at all the trouble they went to just so we could talk to her."

"Still not happy" Maynard stated.

"Just grumpy and a bit dopey" Emerson smirked.

* * *

All over the world, thousands of bridges had been designed and built with the ability to rise up, allowing shipping to pass underneath. The two lane ramp operated in a similar manor but of course, it went down hard!

Almost the entire population of the complex had gathered in the outer storehouse to impatiently await the opportunity to step outside for the first time in fifteen years but only Willow Pascal's team had been allowed in the pit during the risky operation. Everyone however had been serenaded with a cacophony of clangs and screeches echoing back down the tunnel causing more than a little tension. Eventually the noise died down and Linton's communicator played a small and cheerful tune.

"Just don't ask us to close it up again in a hurry" Sid Cartwright informed Professor Adisa.

In less than two minutes, a small truck followed two four-wheel-drives up the tunnel road with as many people inside them as would fit, while most of the left people behind decided to take a very long walk up to the surface. The vehicles were all stopped at the outer end of the tunnel by a considerable pile of sand, dirt and vegetation in the bottom of the pit. The civil engineers who had camouflaged the ramp so many years ago, had done a magnificent job but when the ramp was lowered, everything covering it slid down and formed a barrier across the bottom of the pit.

Fortunately for everyone, Willow and her team really did think of everything and when the Professor arrived in the lead vehicle, the pile was already being dealt with by three skid steer loaders Willow had sent for in advance. It would only be another twenty minutes until enough material had been cleared to allow the four-wheel-drives to proceed, but Blue just could not wait any longer. The young man ignored Linton Adisa request to wait as he threw open the rear door, clambered over the debris and continued on up the ramp. He moved quickly at first but as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the billions of stars he had only ever seen before in pictures filled the sky, his eyes and his soul.

Blue barely noticed one of the skid-steers drive past, but it stopped close by on its way back.

"Oh Sid look at it" Blue exclaimed "It's amazing; it's terrifying."

"I've seen it; it's rubbish" is what Sid would have said if this story had been written by Douglas Adams.

"I've missed this view" is what he actually said.

* * *

 **In many public places today, like airports and train stations, you will often hear the announcement "Any unattended items will be destroyed without warning."**

 **I did not have a problem with this policy until a waiter came up to me and asked "Are you being attended to sir?"**


	22. Chapter 22

**Do you know the best thing about eating Spaghetti? You can floss your teeth at the same time. Anyway... on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 22

The Long Awaited Reunion

"You look as if you'd never seen the sky before" Calla smiled as she and Sarah walked up behind Blue and Sid.

"Not like this" Blue admitted "only in daylight from the top of the Railgun.

"Then you're gonna love the rest; just wait till you see the sun rise" the young girl noted.

"He won't have long to wait" Sarah informed them all "The sun should be rising long before we get to the coast."

Indeed the signs of the coming day showed before the group had managed to travel five kilometres. Unfortunately they would go no further for a while.

"I should have expected this" Linton declared as he stared at the overgrown road.

The Professor sent one of the vehicles back to get help while everyone did their best to start clearing a path by hand. As they worked, he also decided to seek the advice of Doctor Deming.

"Are we going the right way Henry?" Linton asked.

"I've got no idea; why are you asking me?" the middle aged biologist answered.

"Well you are from around here."

"I'm from Jakarta Linton; I'd never set foot here till we came in by plane."

As Professor Adisa considered his error, Jeana Davey slid up to Blue for a word or two.

"I can handle these shrubs; why don't you go and give Amos and Sid a hand?"

Blue glanced over at the two men and shrugged.

"They'll be okay" he decided "Calla's helping them and Willow's nearby too."

"Yeah but don't you want to take the opportunity to make a good impression?" Jeana dug Blue's shoulder with her elbow.

The Rockhopper Penguin of Confusion flew around Blue's head, trying to squawk while not dropping the small fish in its beak (yes I said flew; none of the Mystical Birds of the Mind were truly flightless).

"I've worked with Sid and Amos before" he declared "they know what I can do."

"Not them you brain slug; Calla."

"Because why?" Blue shrugged.

"Don't you think she's pretty?"

Blue looked at Jeana as if she had just suggested he do an interpretive dance because water was wet.

"Yes but I also think she is annoying and possibly dangerous."

"Oh never mind" Jeana sighed and concentrated more on her work while Sarah Spencer snickered to herself.

"Don't worry about him too much" she whispered to Jeana "Calla told me there's a small fleet of boats waiting for word from her father. They'll follow if he says it's safe and there's bound to be more young people onboard."

"If Blue can't handle one girl, how's he gonna be with a bunch of them? We haven't prepared him Sarah; we've really let him down."

"Don't panic yet Jeana; wait till he has to deal with crowds of new people and see how he goes."

"You do not fill me with confidence."

Not far away, a very different conversation was taking place.

"Do you know what I think?" Amos hinted.

"Yes" Sid declared.

"Liar; I think the people back at the complex have stopped working and are having a big party on the surface with drinking, music, dancing and a bonfire."

"Maybe they don't have all those things" Sid suggested "For example, perhaps they don't have music."

"So you're saying they may not have music, but they still have dancing?"

"If there's enough drinking going on, you don't need music."

Amos considered what his friend had said.

"I can dig it" he agreed.

Not long after, the second four-wheel-drive retuned followed by two of the skid steer loaders. The newly arrived machinery made quick work of the overgrowth by ploughing straight through it as the other vehicles followed at a distance. It was a long slow trip, but not long after sunrise the bow of the ship came into view for the first time.

"I'm looking at it, but I just don't believe it" Willow gasped.

"It was here all this time" Professor Adisa declared with disappointment in his voice.

"Headquarters told us it was on the bottom of the ocean" Sid noted "So was it all a big mistake or did they lie to us?"

"I don't know, but I certainly hope to find out" Linton fumed.

"I can see a couple of tents ahead" Calla sat up excitedly "That must be Dad."

And she was right as a very expectant Maynard Linwood and son emerged, waving their arms. Sid Cartwright brought his vehicle to a stop in front of the Linwood camp site and the young girl had the door half open before it had even come to a stop. Soon she was throwing herself into the waiting arms of her father and even Emerson was glad to see her.

Before any more could be said, the trailing vehicle pulled up alongside and the passengers window was wound down.

"Hey Professor, while you chat to Calla's dad, we're gonna go check out the ship" Amos called from the cab.

"Alright but be careful; it's an old ship remember" he called back.

"Wait for us" Willow called out as she and Sid jumped onto the four-wheel-drives running board.

"You must be young Calla's father" Linton knew it was a safe bet.

"Thank you for bringing my daughter back" a very relieved man declared as he held out his hand to the Professor.

"I'm Maynard Linwood and this is Calla's brother Emerson; I am so glad the trust my children put in you, was not misplaced."

"My name is Linton Adisa sir and believe me; I do know the distress you have been going through."

"Dad, can we go and see what they find in the ship?" Calla begged.

"But I just got you back, so I'm not letting you go for at least a week" Maynard declared as he held the squirming girl too tight.

"Getorf!" Calla ordered as she wriggled free and ran off to the beach.

"Don't worry Dad, I'll keep an eye on her" Emerson smiled and hurried after his sister.

"I sure she does not realise how worried you were" Professor Adisa noted.

"You don't know the half of it; if Emerson hadn't stopped me, I was ready to rip that machine out of the hole and jump down after her" Maynard admitted.

"I'm glad you did not" Linton smiled "if you had been hurt or killed, we would not have had the chance to talk."

The two men wandered slowly towards the ship, both wanting to see what was happening but at the same time, gain some information from each other.

"So what is inside this thing?" Maynard broke the ice.

"You'll have to forgive me Mr. Linwood but I am not sure if I should reveal what it contains yet. I am still a little nervous about the state of the world at this time. You see, we have not seen the unfiltered light of day for many years."

"The only thing I can tell you is, things were not great in New Zealand, Australia isn't any better and we are pinning our hopes on finding better prospects in northern Europe or Asia."

"When you say we, to whom are you referring sir?" the Professor asked.

"My family and I left New Zealand on the Star Runner after the last major tsunami and other vessels have joined us as we made our way up the east coast of Australia. The fleet is currently waiting in Darwin for ne to find the next safe harbour for them."

"And then you continue sailing northwest I assume."

"If everything goes according to plan, we hope to get out of the tropics and reach the Gulf of Aden before the next monsoon season" Maynard admitted.

As Maynard and the Professor continued towards the ship, Emerson watched the strange people at work. Calla had not been happy when her brother had ordered her not to follow the three people who had climbed the support leg to the ship, but she was soon happy enough to help Jeana on the floating pontoons. Three ropes were thrown down from the bow and two of them were tied off onto the pontoon, Jeana then tied the third rope to a large canvas bag. Attached to the sides of the bag were two metal rings that she clipped to the side ropes before the bag of equipment was hauled up the side of the ship. After the bag was unloaded, the people on the ship lowered it down for the next load of tools but Emerson's attention was diverted by the sound of a splash.

Not far from the ship, a boy slightly shorter than him but taller than his sister, stood knee deep in the ocean kicking at the water. As Emerson watched, the boy cupped his hand, picked up some of the water and tasted it before spitting it out again.

"Not a good idea to drink salt water" Emerson chuckled.

"Oh I knew it would be salty but I just had to see what it was like."

"You've never been in the sea before?"

"I've never been outside before; hi, I'm Blue."

"Ah the guy with the cats; I'm Emerson, Calla's brother."

Before the two young men could get to know each other, all talk ceased at the sight of an unexpected explosion in the distant sky to the south.

"TAKE COVER!" Maynard shouted.

His children knew what was coming as they ran away from the ship and threw themselves into a depression in the sand. Blue watched in surprised awe when the people on the ship disappeared from view as those on the ground lay down with their hands over their heads.

"What's wrong?" Blue called out but before anyone could answer him, the shockwave hit.

It sounded like the entire atmosphere had invisibly exploded and the power behind it threw Blue six meters back onto the beach. The massive tanker reverberated for almost a minute but even when the sound had dissipated, the ringing noise remained in Blue's ears.

"Are you okay kid?" but Blue could not answer Emerson's question.

Through the blur of what remained of his vision, Blue saw dark shadows surrounding him and he recognised one of them as the young girl who had once threatened him with a shielded electrician's screwdriver. Shock gave way to panic as Blue pushed away the people surrounding him until, above the buzzing and ringing in his head, the calming voice of Professor Adisa finally managed to break though.

"Blue, listen to me; stop fighting, be still."

By the time Blue could fully comprehend the world around him once again, he was no longer on the beach, but was lying on the outside of a sleeping bag under the shade of a clump of palm trees.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Professor Adisa asked the dazed boy.

"All of them; but only three are extended" Blue replied.

"Well he hasn't hurt his sense of humour" Sarah smiled.

"What happened?" the dazed young man asked.

"A meteor exploded in the upper atmosphere" Linton informed him.

"Why didn't you get down?" Calla asked.

"I didn't know what was going on and just as I worked out it was a good idea to do what everybody else was doing, it was too late."

"You blockhead" Calla grinned.

"Thank you Lucy Van Pelt" Blue sighed.

"Who's Lucy Van Pelt?" Calla asked.

"She's a character in the Charlie Brown comic strips" the professor informed Calla.

"Who's Charlie Brown?" Calla continued her enquiry.

"And what's a comic strip? Emerson added.

"The world has changed to a greater degree that I thought" Linton noted "It certainly isn't what it used to be."

"Could it be that it never was?" Amos put forward.

"Deep Amos" Sid declared "Very deep indeed.

"I think you may have received a concussion when your head hit the sand" Professor Adisa informed Blue as he tried to get the world back on track "I think we should get you back to the complex."

"No please, I want to see inside the ship" Blue protested.

"It's been sitting there for fifteen years so I don't think it is going anywhere" Linton reassured Blue.

"Especially after I'm done with it" Willow grinned in an almost evil way as she considered how much fun it can be to use explosives.

* * *

 **Considering the last line, perhaps instead of Pascal, I should have given Willow the last name Thorston after our much loved destruction loving twins. Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Been a bit busy and forgot to post earlier in the week, but at last here it is; the chapter where the story really starts... again.**

* * *

Chapter 23

Boat 54: Where Are You?

Professor Adisa agreed to let Blue stay at the beach on two conditions; first he must stay sitting or lying down for a while, and secondly he would return to the complex with no argument if he didn't improve soon.

"So you've really never known a meteor strike before" Emerson asked as he sat with Blue.

"We do experience the effects down in the complex, but I've never been outside when it happened."

"Because you've never been outside before."

"Exactly right!" Blue nodded and wished he hadn't when his head began to spin a little.

As Blue convalesced and work continued on the ship, Maynard was down on the Star Runner retrieving a well packed water tight case. Inside this container was something very precious and almost irreplaceable; and eighty three year old communication device known as a Ham Radio. As he exited the rear hatch with his precious cargo, Maynard looked up at the mast of his small vessel. With all the problems he'd been having in losing his only daughter, the Star Runners captain had completely forgotten about the broken main forestay. He would have to make it the next priority when his current task was complete.

"I was wondering when you were going to report in" Emerson said when his father arrived back at the camp site.

"You can set up the antenna while I go get the yacht battery."

"Oh may I father? You do spoil me so" Emerson declared sarcastically.

"Just get to work."

As Maynard strolled back to the yacht, Professor Adisa waved for him to wait.

"Excuse me Mr. Linwood but is that a radio antenna your son is setting up?"

"Yes it is; I have to make contact with our friends back in Darwin."

"Could I ask you to hold off on making any transmissions for the time being?" the professor asked earnestly.

"You can ask but I have people depending on me so you'd better have a pretty good reason; you can tell me all about it while I get set up."

"You see Mr. Linwood, the reason we were sealed up inside the complex your daughter fell into, was because fifteen years ago there were people who wanted to stop us and I do not doubt they would have killed us, if they had found out where we were at the time."

"And you think I may be about to contact them?"

Maynard was not sure how worried he should be about these people who greatly outnumbered his small family.

"I doubt the EFA is still searching for us after all this time but if they still exist as a military force and happen to listen in on an unrelated radio conversation, I would not want them to hear about the ship or hear the name Linton Adisa. Let's just say I would like to avoid the risk until we know more about the state of the contemporary world."

"I think it's time you told me exactly what is on this ship and what you are doing here. I've have the future lives of a considerable number of people resting on my shoulders and I don't want to bring them into a fight over a shipwreck."

"What is on this ship Mr. Linwood could be vital to the future lives of your friends and everyone else left on Earth."

"I'm sceptical, but listening" Maynard crossed his arms.

"After the Sholf-4 meteors began raining down on Earth, it became clear to us there was no real future for humanity, if Earth was its only home; and so work stared on the construction of a colony on Mars."

"I do remember hearing a little about it and I always assumed they had either failed or were still out there cut off from the rest of us."

"As you can probably tell by looking at me, I was alive before the first meteorite hit. I was one of the many thousands of people who dedicated their lives to making the Mars colony happen, even though we knew we would not be among those saved. Things went well for us at first with every major government one hundred percent behind the project but when the first five hundred future colonists names were announced, things got hairy very quickly."

"Hundreds going, millions left behind; I can see how it would cause some tension" Maynard agreed.

"We hadn't even sent the first construction crew at the time. Everything was being done robotically or remotely from orbit. Most of the discontented voices were from a few panicking people with no hope of ever being chosen for the future lists of evacuees. Work on Mars Base never stopped but we did initiate a higher level of security. Everything changed though with the formation of the EFA; the Earth First Alliance. The EFA was the result of disgruntled government officials and wealthy individuals who were very upset at their inability to control the Mars Colony selection process. They had put many years of time and effort getting the best training and education for their own children and grandchildren but of course with such limited numbers, most still missed out and they were not going to stand for it."

"So they tried to take over the Mars project?" Maynard asked.

"At first they lobbied to have it cancelled completely. Down below us Mr. Linwood is a vast underground complex featuring self sufficient farming, recycling, manufacturing and everything else needed to sustain life. Several of these complexes were built around the world both as design tests for Mars and shelters to protect vital parts of the project. The EFA propaganda stated, if the time and effort put into the Mars Base was redirected into building more complexes like the one here, then millions would be saved instead of two thousand."

"You have to excuse me but that seems to make a lot of sense. Your young friend sitting with my son has obviously never had to worry about shockwaves, tsunami or ground strikes for his entire life; whereas we deal with it constantly" Maynard stated.

"True it is safer down there, but not completely. What started all this was an object in the asteroid belt known as Sholf-4; a massive mostly metal asteroid. It unexpectedly collided with and shattered an even bigger rock asteroid. The resulting debris cloud settled into an elliptical orbit between Venus and Mars. Unfortunately Mr. Linwood, the Earth is of course also orbiting the sun between Venus and Mars."

"Hence the occasional space bomb" Maynard said flippantly.

"Precisely Mr. Linwood and one of those so called space bombs, is what remains of the original Sholf-4 asteroid and to put it in very basic terms, it is big, solid and if it hits the Earth will kill us all no matter how deep underground we are."

"Oh... that's depressing to say the least."

"Incredibly depressing; so the idea of everyone staying here just did not make any sense and Mars Base went ahead, but no longer with complete global backing and eventually, during an all out war" the professor sighed.

"But you succeeded in the end I assume."

"We did Mr. Linwood; by the time young Calla was born, Mars base was fully populated. Blue and his mother were meant to be on the last ship to leave Earth but she was killed in an EFA attack the day after Blue was born on this very ship. We were then transported here and on our arrival I was informed by my superiors that the EFA had destroyed the ship. We were sealed inside the complex soon after and we have spent the last fifteen years sending supplies and equipment into orbit to be collected by the Mars Transfer Vehicle."

"So what is on the ship; more supplies?" Maynard thought he was beginning to understand at last.

"More than that Mr. Linwood" Linton Adisa smiled.

"Maynard, please."

"More than just supplies indeed Maynard; assuming everything is still intact, this ship holds the next part of our plan. Until the EFA reared its ugly head, a settlement of two thousand people on Mars was just the beginning. We hoped to be able to continue evacuating Earth until the end came for us all; whether it happened in a year, a decade or a century. What we have standing in front of us, could mean a new life for thousands more; and so we have to do our best to protect it and keep it from the EFA."

"Sounds like you want to keep it secret and save yourselves?" Maynard accused.

"I did say a new life for thousands" Linton explained "and there are fewer than a hundred of us here. Also I am over eighty years old so I'm not planning to go anywhere."

"Okay then" Maynard nodded "tell me everything."

"Well that's a long story but to start, the whole point of this ship was to provide all the equipment needed to make the railgun capable of resuming the evacuation of Earth. We wanted to get all this equipment underground before the EFA could get wind of our plans. We were to start sending more people as soon as Mars Base had grown large enough" Linton Explained.

"The makings of a good plan" Maynard agreed as he and the professor contemplated the massive vessel.

"But there were a few people in leadership positions who greatly disagreed with the idea and the overseer of Mars Base, Olive Roux was one of them. She and many others believed we were taking a huge risk by human rating the railgun."

"Human rating?" Maynard had to ask.

"Basically ensuring it's as safe for human use as we can make it. Some of the council members believed we were setting the Mars colony up for inevitable failure by making it possible to sending too many people in a shorter time frame and they were right, but we all understand the need to only send numbers the base can safely handle."

"If you know what you're doing, I don't see the problem" Maynard noted.

"Olive Roux put forward several disastrous scenarios including the EFA capturing and using the complex or an internal panic and take over but fortunately those who did not like the idea were voted down. I believed the report when I was told the EFA had destroyed the ship, but now I suspect it was just a way of keeping us from proceeding to the next phase."

"So now you've got it, what do you plan to do now?"

"I'm not quite sure yet Mr. Linwood. I don't mind you and your friends knowing about the ship and its contents, but I would feel much safer if nothing was said about it over your radio for the time being."

"Alright then, you've convinced me" Maynard nodded "I still need to make contact but I'll keep your secret for now; you can even listen in if you like."

"Thank you; I appreciate what you're doing" Linton smiled.

"Well you did keep Calla safe" Maynard returned the smile.

"Perhaps you could let me know your plans and destination?" the Professor asked.

"It's all very simple; not only New Zealand but all the smaller land masses of the south pacific are under constant risk of tsunami. It doesn't matter if a space bomb misses us; we still get hit by the resulting wave. We thought things would be better in Australia but the east coast has been hit pretty hard over the last forty years. We've met a lot of people on the way and we all decided to take the risk of a long trip to the middle of the Eurasian land mass and see if life is any better there."

"And what if life is no better there?"

"Then we find somewhere nice and just do our best till the end comes."

"If everything works out as I hope it will, we may be able to offer you a risky but ultimately safer alternative on Mars, but first I must see if Willow is ready to blow the nose."

"Err, come again?"Maynard asked.

* * *

 **Sometimes I ask myself questions like;**

 **If Tin Whistles are made of tin, what are Fog Horns made of?  
Why is the word Abbreviation so long?  
** **If the number 2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still number 2?**


	24. Chapter 24

**If all goes according to plan, we are now almost halfway through this story. I'm working on chapter 44 and I can see the end running towards me, arms outstretched, over the top of a hill covered with wild flowers.**

 **I think I need more sleep.**

24 Send in the Fleet

"Star Runner calling TK-421, over."

As well as Blue and the professor, Emerson had fetched Calla for their fathers call. If their mother was near the radio she would want to speak to her children.

"TK-421 this is Star Runner, over."

Maynard tried a few more times but with no luck at all.

"I don't understand it; there should always be someone on radio duty."

"I guess all you can do is keep trying Dad" Emerson shrugged.

"TK-421 why aren't you at your post? TK-421 do you copy?"

"TK-421 receiving Star Runner, over" the radio replied at last.

"Star Runner to TK-421; you are clear to proceed, over."

"TK-421 to Star Runner; we got tired of waiting. Fleet if now west of Christmas Island, over."

"Just as well we called or they could have sailed by miles off shore" Calla shrugged.

"Star Runner to TK421; there is a bay just south of Padang in West Sumatra. We will meet you there. Verify, over."

"TK421 to Star Runner; bay south of Padang in West Sumatra. We should be there in under 48 hours. Any final message, over?"

"Star Runner to TK-421; tell Ursula the kids and I are fine. Star Runner out."

"So we're heading out again?" Emerson asked.

"Looks like it so we'd better get that forestay fixed" Maynard admitted.

"Don't worry about it, I'll ask Sid and Amos to check it out" Willow Pascal offered as she approached the group.

"Does this mean you've finished priming the explosives?" Professor Adisa asked hopefully.

"Just give the word and block your ears" Willow grinned.

"Are you really going to blow the ship up?" Calla asked in amazement and was not happy when Willow laughed.

"Not the whole ship little one, just a door about fifteen metres wide in the centre of the bow" Professor Adisa explained as he tussled Calla's hair (just like older people tend to do) "The flattest section of the bow was built for just this purpose and was constructed with explosive bolts."

"And when it blows, you'll see what my team has been working on since we got here" Willow added.

All the vehicles were moved back to the Linwoods camp and everyone gathered behind the small truck just in case of any unexpected flying shrapnel.

"Are you sure the Star Runner will be safe moored alongside the ship?" Maynard fretted.

"Certainly" Amos reassured the captain of the small vessel "It would only be at risk if it was in front of the blast zone but your yacht is behind and to the side."

"That's right" Sid added "the only danger is..."

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Willow cried out.

"Wait; the only danger is what?" Maynard panicked.

Before anyone could answer him, a countless series of dull thuds filled the air and even made the truck vibrate.

"Hurry up if you want to see it go" Willow said as she sprinted out.

Calla watched in awe at the seventy metre wide bow, as a tall section of the centre creaked, groaned and eventually fell onto the sand with a loud crash.

"Cool" she remarked "Doom would love to have seen that."

"Doom?" Blue asked.

"Harriet Doom; weird girl who Calla seems to admire for some reason" Emerson explained.

"She's a lot cooler than you two" Calla insisted "just don't call her Harriet to her face unless you want a blood nose."

"So what was the 'only danger' you were talking about?" Maynard asked Sid.

"Hardly matters now" the engineer shrugged and smiled.

"Okay Amos; start the motors" Willow ordered.

From within the tall rectangular hole in the ship, a tall ramp emerged accompanied by even more creaks, groans and crashes. As it slowly dropped it began to unfold from the top so as it gently settled on the ground, it ended up twice as long as the hole it had come from. Once it had settled, everyone began to walk back as Jeana Davy brought the truck.

"I'm sure glad I stayed to see that" Blue grinned as he walked.

"Why aren't you still sitting in the shade, recuperating?" Linton scolded the young man.

"I'm feeling much better now" Blue declared.

"I just wish Doctor Vieira was here" the professor sighed.

Everyone in the group felt like they were walking up a massive tongue and into the mouth of a giant beast as the sound of their feet echoed off the metal ramp. What the Linwoods saw inside was not what they expected. It was hard not to imagine the inside of the ship being like a giant empty space with cargo and vehicles on the floor level; but what greeted them was a wall of giant containers, crates and unrecognisable dark shapes reaching almost fifty metres high.

"Just as I remember it" Professor Adisa sighed.

"So what exactly do you have in here?" Maynard asked.

"Everything we need" Willow nodded "Among the items too numerous to list are more parts for the railgun, materials and machinery for various manufacturing projects, six expandable habitats and four 5000 kilowatt VASIMR plasma rockets and two complete lifting body orbiters."

"I like to think I have a lifting body" Emerson flexed his muscles till his sister punched him in the gut.

"We still need to unload this equipment and verify if it's still usable, but now is the time to ask Mr. Linwood; do you think your friends would be interested in considering a far safer destination than the northern hemisphere?"

"You're not joking about this are you? You're really talking about going to Mars" Maynard looked at Linton sideways.

"I am indeed" Linton grinned.

"It's been fifteen years and we've been sending regular supplies and equipment" Sid noted "so the base must have expanded enough to allow more evacuees."

"But those new evacuees would arrive on Mars with embarrassing questions about why Earth was kept in the dark for so many years" Amos added.

"I'm beginning to get a sinking feeling about our plans" Sarah realised "If the Council members here and on Mars lied to us, they may be desperate to keep us from finding out."

"Yes and when Neville Sage told me to stay locked inside the complex, unwarranted secrecy was one of the first things I thought about" Professor Adisa admitted.

"I just thought of something horrible; excuse me everyone" Sarah motioned the professor to a private conversation.

"What if they told Luis Dias his son had died with his wife? Could that be the reason no message was ever sent to us about Blue?"Sarah whispered.

"You may have hit the proverbial nail square on the head" Linton noted "Time for me to call Mars again."

Willow and her team stayed to keep working on the ships systems while Sarah drove the others back to the complex. The Linwood men were looking forward to seeing the base where Calla had been spending her time.

It had not taken long for the people of the complex to start setting themselves up outside, and a small cleared parking area was slowly filling up with trucks and equipment. Sarah made a brief stop so Linton could request road building equipment be given restoration priority before they continued down the tunnel and into the complex.

"Professor, could we have a word please?" there were three people who made this request when the vehicle stopped.

"Sorry to tell you this but some of us won't be staying and a few have already left" the spokes person of the group declared.

"After fifteen years living and working here, I can't say I'm surprised; where will you go?" Linton asked.

"Some just want to find a nice place on the surface nearby, others are thinking about leaving the country altogether."

"I can't say I blame them" Linton sighed "See if you can get them to give me a few days to get organised, then we'll see what we can do about helping them. I'll be heading south to Padang soon to meet up with the friends of the Linwoods; you may be able to gain passage north with them."

"Thanks Professor; we're prepping some vehicles now but we'll give you some time and will let you know before we leave."

Sarah noticed the professor was deep in thought as they strode towards the communications centre.

"I had a feeling this may happen" he said at last.

"People leaving?" Sarah checked.

"Indeed but after years of confinement and service, it's to be expected."

No sooner had Linton walked through the comms center door, when he was leapt on by the duty officer.

"There you are Professor; Premier Roux has been trying to contact you for hours."

"Yes I was hoping she would have been" he smiled "What did you tell her?"

"Just that you were very busy at the moment and we were trying to find you."

"You didn't mention the ship?" Linton crossed his fingers they hadn't.

"We didn't even say you were outside the complex" the comms officer grinned knowingly.

"Good; time to have some fun."

Linton sat down at the computer and took in the thread between his people and Mars. The exchange started out very cordial but descended into polite frustration as the hours went by. After he had finished reading, he started to type.

' _ **Linton Adisa standing by; Good morning Premier Roux.'**_

"There we go; simple and friendly."

"Aren't you going to tell her anything?" Sarah asked in surprise.

"Yes but Olive is going to have to wring it out of me."

"So you will tell her about the ship Professor?"

"Hell no" he stated adamantly "I want to see how helpful Mars will be and how desperate they are."

"Desperate for supplies?"

"Desperate to keep their secrets intact; the problem is I don't know the extent of those secrets so I'll just have to see if I can say anything to upset Olive and the Council."

" _ **Wonderful to be talking to you after all these years Linton. Your people tell me you have been very busy even though you have reached the end of your supply launch capabilities. What have you been up to?"**_

"Short, polite and to the point; time to throw in a flash/bang" Linton could not stop grinning.

"What's a flash/bang?" Calla asked and was pleased to see Blue didn't know.

"It's a type of grenade" Sarah informed them "Bright light and a big noise with almost no damage; they're used to stun an enemy for a short time."

"So this Olive Roux is your enemy?" Maynard wondered.

"I hope not, but it is precisely what we have to find out" Linton noted as he typed.

" _ **Sorry I was not available Olive; I was organising the reopening of the complex. Even though Sage suggested we stay down here, many people including myself just want to see the sun and breathe the air again."**_

"Not much of a grenade" Sarah shrugged.

"I haven't thrown it yet" Linton grinned "I've just pulled the pin."

" _ **April's son in particular is really looking forward to seeing everything up top for the first time. Perhaps now we are in contact again, Luis would like to speak to his boy."**_

"And BOOM!" Linton cried out as he hit send.

"I'm going to speak to my father?" Blue was plainly in shock.

"I hope so, but it depends on if the Mars Council will allow it" Linton revealed.

"Professor Adisa; what have you done?" Sarah was shocked at Linton's lack of tact.

The Professor suddenly became precisely aware of what he was doing; without realising it, he had used Blue's unenviable position to force Olive Roux into a corner. If Luis Dias was permitted to speak to his son all would be well but if not, Blue would be devastated.

"Oh my boy, I am so sorry" Linton gasped "I just wasn't thinking of how my actions would affect you."

"What do you mean Professor? I would love to talk to my father."

Linton Adisa's head dropped as he tried to find the words to explain the problem but fortunately, Sarah found the words Linton could not.

"Sometimes when you get old and the worries of two worlds weigh heavily on your shoulders, you do stupid things like inadvertently using a person's emotions to manipulate someone else without thinking about the consequences" she told Blue.

"Yes; I really am very sorry" Professor Adisa restated.

"So I won't get to... excuse me."

Blue hurried from the room with Sarah close behind.

"Oh I am such an idiot" Linton sighed as he dropped his head into his hands.

 **(Sigh) I can't believe I put so much prattle at the start of this chapter for the sake on one bad Star Wars joke (Sigh again).**


	25. Chapter 25

**It's weird; I still have about ten more chapters to write (about 50 all up) but I'm already making plans for the next story or two. Anyway... here's the next bit and this is where the story really starts.**

* * *

25 The Magnificent Five

"Biblis Tholus!"

"You do and you'll clean it up" Sierra Corbin smirked.

"I'm talking about the mountain; why are you even here?" Professor Leonard Topolski asked rudely; the middle aged Ukrainian did not like Sierra's strange sense of humour.

"She is a member of the team Leonard" April sighed.

"Yes but she is robotics engineer; she will come and do her job no matter where we go."

"I'm a robotics engineer too" Vikram Mandal interjected.

"And I'm a medical doctor" Umbrielle Mandal added "so we're in the same boat as Sierra but you don't seem to mind us being involved in the decision making."

"You two aren't always making with the bad jokes" Professor Topolski pointed out.

"Look I'm sorry alright? Let's just get on with this and I promise to use a bucket full of self control" Sierra apologised.

"You need to use big truck full of self control" Topolski accused.

"Leonard; play nice" April warned as the Pink-headed Fruit Dove of Frustration circled in judgment.

Even though he was almost twice her age, April had an incredible authoritarian hold on the good professor.

"Okay then, I am sorry too; Sierra may stay."

"Leonard!" April said in the stern voice she normally kept in reserve for her daughters and occasionally her husband.

"Even though it is really not up to me" Topolski admitted.

Okay everyone, this has got to stop. We may have our own habitats but we'll be working in close quarters for many months and none of you will be able to just take a little holiday back here at the main base if you can't get along with each other" April insisted.

"Sorry Mrs. Dias" Sierra spoke like a scolded child in school.

"So much for self control" Professor Topolski mumbled but thankfully, everyone ignored him.

"So you want to make the case for Biblis Tholus as the location for the second base, eh Leonard?" April asked.

"Yes but I don't think I need to make case. We've been discussing best location of second Mars colony for years and while there are many acceptable places, I don't think any are noticeably better. Biblis Tholus if far enough away to be safely independent, close enough for short travel time of less than five days and we will have future opportunity to use height of mountain to build Railgun Launcher. The one on Earth did marvellous job for many years and now..."

The Professor stopped when he realised almost everyone around him was trying to get him to stop talking and change the subject; everyone but April.

"Oh, I am so sorry my dear for mentioning... well... you know" Topolski stared at his feet.

"It's okay everyone" April smiled "It doesn't matter if the Railgun project comes up in conversation because Professor Topolski is right. We should consider building one here and besides; I think about my son, Linton, Sarah and all the people lost on that ship everyday so talking about them won't do any more harm."

"You are good woman; brave woman" Professor Topolski gripped April's shoulders "You must have Ukrainian blood flowing in your veins."

"Actually my Great Grandfather said we were Vikings" April pondered.

"Same thing; tough yet gentle with fiery passion in soul."

"Yeah well he also said we rode on the backs of dragons, so you may want to add deluded to the list."

When Aprils meeting was finally complete, she had hoped to head straight home. She was used to Luis leaving home to do his time on the MTV, but losing her eldest daughter for a few months was taking some getting used to. Time helping Abigail with her preparations would have to wait though because Umbrielle Mandal insisted April stop putting off her required physical check up. So she spent the next hour twisting, stretching, covering one eye, listening for inaudible beeps, donating fluids, breathing deeply and touching the tip of her nose with her eyes shut. And all the way through the various indignities, April and Umbrielle discussed the new future and founding the second colony.

"I still find myself wondering Brie; should we start off with the safe crops like they did here, or try for a more diverse system straight off the bat? We shouldn't be too scared to experiment since we already have this base running at near full output."

"I do believe you are looking for trouble so you can have something to fix" Umbrielle accused.

"Listen Brie; I'd rather cause problems at a time when we can learn from them without putting lives at risk, rather than wait for them to happen at the worst possible time."

"I still think you enjoy being a troublemaker" Umbrielle smirked "Oh and by the way, congratulations on the impending addition to your little brood."

"Not you too Brie" April sighed "Luis and I have talked about having another child, but as to these rumours going around about me being pregnant, they are just that; rumours!"

"Are you sure?" Umbrielle gave a sly grin as she tapped the chart of April's medical results.

The Barn Owl of Slow Realisation settled gently onto April's head and dug its claw deep into her brain.

"April; what are you doing with that scalpel?" Umbrielle asked as her patient picked up the sharp instrument.

"I'll bring it back soon" she promised "I just have to go and see Luis about a delicate surgical procedure."

"You are NOT going to castrate your husband!" Umbrielle was adamant.

"How about a violent vasectomy?"

"No April; definitely not!"

* * *

While his mother considered doing the unthinkable to his father, Blue sat under a tree about twenty metres from the top of the ramp. The sound of trees and bushes being cleared from the road to the beach drifted on the breeze as the inhabitants of the railgun complex prepared for the new task of equipment delivery. As he watched, Blue saw the small truck return from the ship. It left the complex fifteen minutes later laden down with tools and machinery to assist in the unloading of the ship.

"Everybody is going nuts trying to find you" Calla noted; she felt a real sense of pride at having succeeded where the others had failed.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before someone did" Blue inadvertently deflated the young girl's ego.

"Well I was with your friend Sarah when the truck arrived; she asked the driver if he'd seen you up here and he said no so she went to look somewhere else. But knew you wouldn't be standing on the side of the road in plain view so I got him to give me a lift up to the surface and here you are."

"You must be so proud of yourself."

"Yup; so why didn't you wait to see what the reply from Mars would be?"

"It was weird" Blue admitted "I asked myself the same question as I was walking up the tunnel. At first I was excited at the thought of finally having the chance to see a message just for me from my father, but then I wondered why hadn't he ever tried to send me a message before? Professor Adisa said maybe it was because he didn't know I was here, and we couldn't send a message to him because a transmission could have given our position away to the EFA."

"That makes sense" Calla agreed.

"But now we know someone lied about the ship; they told us was sunk when it was really here and the Professor thinks they could have been lying about a lot of stuff" Blue noted.

"So maybe they lied to your dad too; told him you died with your Mom."

"Or maybe he didn't want me without her" Blue theorised "Maybe he didn't want a child keeping him planet bound when he wanted to be a pilot on the Mars Transfer Vehicle."

"You really are over thinking it" Calla laughed much to Blues annoyance "I'd bet you a months chores he doesn't know you're here."

"If only I could be sure."

"Then come back and find out."

"You are really starting to annoy me" Blue huffed.

"Then my work here is done" Calla bowed and wandered back to the ramp.

Blue sat for another half a minute trying to think of a reason to stay where he was, but the unseen Barn Owl in the tree above him meant he was soon on his way back to meet up with Professor Adisa and forgive the old man for his thoughtlessness.

* * *

 **I just read that there is going to be a live action TV series of Sword Art Online; can HTTYD be far behind and is it a good idea or not?**

 **Time will tell I suppose.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Just noticed I've picked up a few more readers. Hi all; thanks for giving this story a go and special thanks to Stripesicles222 for reviewing. Well here's the next bit and of course, this is where the story really starts.**

* * *

26 Setting Out

"Perhaps we should consider removing Luis and Abigail Dias from the Earth reconnaissance trip after all" Olive spoke clearly to those who were not in the room with her.

"We have considered the best course of action and believe it is this; with April leaving for the new colony site and Luis on the MTV, the risk of either of them discovering their son is still alive is greatly diminished. Sage and Dias must be given strict orders to spend the entire trip in total communications black out for the safety of the survivors on Earth; they must only contact you in a case of extreme emergency."

"I'll see to it right away sir" Olive reassured the members of the Deep Council.

"We have also decided to send Saffron Dias and Sudhi Mandal on the colony expedition."

"May I ask why sir?" Olive Roux was surprised.

"It will be best to have the entire Dias family out of the picture while Adisa is in contact with us."

"But Saffron is only nine years old sir."

"Nevertheless, we will feel more comfortable removing the risk of any unexpected contact with Earth."

"What about the Mandal boy sir?" Olive asked.

"He is our excuse Premier; with Topolski going on the expedition, you can say these two children should go to gain knowledge and experience from their teacher and pass on what they learn to the other students when they return. If April or the Mandals don't agree, offer them additional supplies and help during this first trip; we doubt they will pass on the opportunity."

"Is there anything else before I go sir?" Olive checked.

"Remind Sage to watch what he says to Luis and Abigail; we are finding it hard to justify his constant foul ups."

"Most certainly sir."

* * *

April and Luis weren't sure at first about April taking their nine year old on a very risky journey, many kilometres across the surface of Mars. But when they found out the bare bones mission had been widened to include extra vehicles, supplies and personnel, the idea began to sound more appealing. A quick conversation with Vikram and Umbrielle Mandal to see if they agreed and it was settled; the children would go too and the task of informing them would be given to Professor Topolski.

"I don't believe this!" Sarah Winter complained "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have the chance to go on this trip too."

When Professor Topolski had revealed the details about who would be leaving on the Second Colony expedition to his small class, he had not expected this reaction from his oldest student. Although this Sarah and the other one on Earth were very different people, the seventeen year old Martian had some similarities to Sarah Spencer. The most interesting was they both helped take care of the children of April Dias.

"Perhaps you should come along" Topolski declared to everyones surprise.

"Do you mean it?" Sarah asked.

"Certainly I do; although I will have to check with Saffron's mother as she is in charge of the whole thing, but I think I can make good case. Premier Roux wants us to bring this experience to all young Martians, so each learning group can benefit from the process of problem solving on the go. As student or robotics Sarah, you can learn from and assist the remote construction team and as a young adult, you do not need to have parent on expedition like Saffron and Sudhi do. I would certainly like to have your help keeping these two little mischief makers in line as well."

"Neat" Sarah grinned.

"But where does that leave me?" Holly Duncan panicked "With Abigail leaving for Earth, I'll be the only member of this learning group left behind."

"Sorry Miss Duncan but cookie has crumbled" Professor Topolski declared by getting the saying slightly wrong.

"You'll have to join one of the other learning groups" Sarah noted as the Yellow Warbler of Disappointment pecked at the cookie crumbs surrounding Holly's feet.

"I don't want to join another group" she sighed

"I remember you didn't want to join this one either, but things change" Sarah noted "and look on the bright side; at thirteen you will probably be the oldest member of your new group."

"That's true; and I'll be the one with all the contacts at Base Two" Holly grinned.

* * *

When Florian Klein first arrived on Mars as a man in his early twenties, remote and robotic base construction had been progressing for well over a year. The first four people to land on the red planet found a site littered with non-operational machines while the more reliable robots slowly continued their work. One of the first tasks Florian took on after arriving was to set up an underground workshop in one of the already complete tunnels. His three friends worked on the surface infrastructure and lived in inflatable habitats buried under Martian regolith for protection from the high background radiation.

Every little anti-radiation precaution helped but years later, the health effects resulting from many months on the surface began to manifest. Three of the first four people on Mars had now passed away, the last being Kiyoko Watanabe fifteen years ago. She died aged fifty two after spending thirty years on the red planet and of all Florian's colleagues, her passing affecting him the most. So important was the mission of the first construction team, Florian decided he should not tell Kiyoko about the feelings he had for her until the colony was well and truly underway and populated.

As the years went by, the right time never seemed to come and when Kiyoko's health began to fail her, Florian realised he had been far too cautious for far too long. The worst day of his life came a few days before Kiyoko died, when Florian was sitting by her bed keeping her company.

"I had always hoped we would marry someday" Kiyoko said unexpectedly "but I guess it was not meant to be."

The tightness in his throat was almost too much to bear and all he could do was to take her hand and smile reassuringly through his tears.

One month later, April and Luis arrived on Mars still mourning the loss of their baby and Florian felt an instant connection with the young couple. Whenever Luis was away on the MTV, Florian was always there to listen to April's laments and her daughters even called him Papa Klein when they were small. Now he had to get used to the idea of his entire Martian family leaving the colony for an extended period and he was going to miss them all terribly.

* * *

The underground sections of the Mars base were designed to make the inhabitants feel well and truly at home with natural lighting, varying temperatures and open access to most of the plant growing zones, but there were still times when a few people would have to leave the comfort and safety of the base and venture up to the cold unforgiving surface. The solar energy and heat transfer systems needed regular maintenance and the supplies from Earth would have to be retrieved. Many of the people who would undertake these tasks did so because they were willing to do their part, but there were several people who liked to spend as much time on the surface as they could get. Two such people were Kwame Moloi and Jaden Walker and this was why they had volunteered to blaze a trail to Site 2 at Biblis Tholus.

"Now don't rush it lads; you'll have a three week head start on the rest of us, so don't push your equipment to breaking point."

"You know you can count on us April" Kwame smiled.

"And if you have a major breakdown, don't spend too much time outside on repairs" Florian Klein added "Just push the vehicle to the side and carry on with one of the others. We can always retrieve it later."

"Don't worry Doctor Klein; I promise we'll play it safe" Jaden Walker reassured Florian.

The quality of radiation protection offered by the Mars surface pressure suits had improved greatly over the decades since Florian's day, but the safest place to spend extended periods of surface time was always inside one of the Rovers. Kwame and Jaden were preparing to leave with four of these rolling habitats with the express intention of clearing a path for those who would follow. The first machine in line driven by Kwame, would clear away rocks and boulders with a combination of a scoop jokingly called the Snow Plough, a rotating barrel to throw smaller rocks aside and a hydraulic claw for larger obstacles.

Following behind in the second vehicle, Jaden would use a selection of grinding wheels and drums to round off any sharp protrusions. The path between bases would see a lot of traffic in the years to come so avoiding wheel damage was a high priority. The last two vehicles would follow under computer control and all four were packed to capacity with supplies and equipment for the second base site.

"We'll see you in a few weeks" April told them as she and Florian each closed an air lock door.

A loud clunk followed by a hiss indicated both rovers had detached and looking through the window, April watched them proceed out of the dome followed by their automated companions.

"After years of fighting bureaucracy and red tape, it's hard to believe we're finally getting started" April grinned.

"Red tape or red planet tape?" Florian pondered.

"Don't you dare try and tell me you think that's funny" April huffed.

"I wouldn't dream of it" the old man replied.

* * *

 **Original plans had this story well balanced between Mars and Earth but it seems most of the action is on the old home planet. I hope to be finished early April (the month, not the character) so I can get started on the next one but I suppose it depends on work.**

 **See you soon, Marty.**


	27. Chapter 27

**It's a peaceful Sunday morning here in Adelaide; the temperature has dropped to something more liveable after the week's heatwave and the housework is almost done (meaning a day of writing and gaming). But wait... what is that loud exhaust note in the distance?**

 **Oh yeah, I forgot; today is race 2 of the Supercar Series. 250 kilometres of racing around the parklands to go and then it will be a quiet Sunday once more.**

* * *

27 Setting Out Too (the sequel)

Sid and Amos grinned proudly as Maynard inspected the slight modification the two engineers had made to the Star Runner.

"I thought you were only going to repair the forestay" Maynard said in awe.

"It's just not in our nature to ignore worn and broken parts without doing our best to fix them" Amos smiled.

"But there was nothing broken" the small ship's captain protested.

"What about the keel?" Sid pointed out.

"I liked having it stuck half down."

"But you couldn't..." Sid began but was cut off.

"And what is this?" Maynard asked about the grey cylinder with the digital readout and keypad attached to the tiller.

"Just a bit of old tech" Amos informed Maynard "You can input your heading and the auto steer will keep you on track."

"The new forestay doesn't look right either; it's too fine and it should be stainless steel."

"Yeah sorry but we didn't have any stainless steel wire cable, so we used a titanium sleeved cable with a carbon fibre core" Sid hoped it would be acceptable.

"I doubt it will hold" Maynard sneered "What's it rated too?"

"Three point seven five metric tonnes" Amos stated.

"Three point se..?" Maynard gasped "I guess it will suffice. Any chance you could re-do the entire rigging with that stuff?"

* * *

" _ **Luis would be overjoyed to be able to speak with his son but unfortunately, he is not here at this time. Perhaps he could send a message for us to pass on when Luis returns. What is the boy's name?"**_

"You didn't use my name; why not?" Blue asked as he read the response from Mars Base.

"Blue is just what we call you" Professor Adisa explained "Your name is given to you by your parents."

"And you never thought to tell me this?"

"By the time you were learning to speak, we'd gotten so used to calling you Blue and we really didn't know if we'd ever find out your real name, so we never..." Linton decided to stop prattling and just say what needed to be said "Sorry Blue; we really made a mess of things."

"As the years went by, everything just settled down into a rut of maintain the railgun, build things and send them off to Mars" Sarah Spencer noted "Lather, rinse, repeat."

"Huh?" Calla spoke up upon hearing the strange comment.

"It's the instructions on the back of the shampoo bottle and it pretty much sums up what life was like down here" Sarah explained.

"And what is shampoo?" the young girl asked.

"A viscous liquid soap for the hair" Linton said as he wondered how many other old items he took for granted, would be unknown to the people of contemporary Earth.

"It's not made of..." Calla grimaced.

"No; definitely not" Sarah grinned.

"So what reply did you send back to this Olive Roux person?" Blue tried to get back on topic.

"I told her I would talk to you and send something later. She wished us luck and asked me to send her updates of our progress."

"It sounds to me like you may have been just a little paranoid" Maynard offered.

"Perhaps, but it will be interesting to see what happens when I tell Olive we have the means to send more evacuated people to Mars" Linton pondered "Will the idea be accepted?"

"Can she stop you?" Maynard asked.

"Olive could refuse to sent the MTV and pick up anyone we send; we may have to build an interplanetary ship of our own and that would take years" Linton sighed "I just hope we can talk her into accepting more people with the promise of us sending more supplies and equipment with them."

"It all comes back to the ship" Sarah reminded everyone "The more I think about it, the more I believe we were locked in here ahead of schedule so we wouldn't get our hands on it."

"I don't want to agree with you, but..." Linton nodded.

* * *

The next twenty four hours brought more changes to the railgun complex. Two larger trucks and some more earthmoving equipment were returned to active service and although work progressed at the ship, very little could be unloaded until the road from the ramp to the beach had been improved. With more machinery available, more residence of the complex could get to work on the road, but Professor Adisa had another task for himself and Henry Deming. Calla was not going to like it so Linton let Maynard break the bad news.

"I hope you two don't mind, but I need you to stay here when I head down to Padang" Maynard informed his children.

"You're taking that Professor guy with you I assume?" Emerson asked.

"Yes and a guy named Henry too."

"I can understand you wanting to leave giraffe boy behind" Calla pointed to her brother "but I won't take up much room and besides, I don't want to stay here with that kid; he's a bit of a know-it-all talking about science and stuff all the time."

"We'll only be gone a few days Calla and it's a big complex so just hang around with Ms. Spencer and I'll be back before you know it."

Not far away, Professor Adisa had a similar conversation with Blue.

"Can't you take her with you, she's such a pain and won't listen" Blue did some protesting of his own.

"Mr Linwood says his boat is much easier to handle if it isn't overloaded and I want to take Henry with me. There may still be some people living in or around Padang so having someone who can speak Bahasa Indonesian would be very helpful."

"I'll go with you as well then" Blue decided.

"Just find somewhere out of the way where Miss Linwood can't find you and I'll see you in a few days" Linton smiled as he tussled the boy's hair.

"Stick with me and the guys and we'll keep you so busy; the time will fly by" Willow offered.

But it wasn't just the presence of Calla worrying Blue, and he wasn't the only one with concerns; Doctor Quill Vieira had also tried to talk the professor out of taking this short but potentially risky journey. Linton Adisa was in very good health for a man his age, but he had not attempted anything so strenuous since being sealed inside the railgun complex fifteen years ago and everyone was worried about him over taxing himself.

Not only were Emerson and Calla sorry to see their father depart, but they were also disappointed not to have the chance to try out the Star Runners new modifications. After waving goodbye with everyone else, Calla climbed up to the deck of the ship and hurried down to the stern. From there she had a marvellous view of the ocean and the shrinking sails of the Star Runner as it sailed slowly away to the southeast. Her walk back to the bow and climb down to the dock was much more sedate and as she made her way back onto the beach, Blue could not help but feel sorry for the dejected young girl.

The rails of the overhead crane had been extended forward so Sid and Blue could now begin unloading more ramp sections and ready them for placement on the sand, but Blues attention was caught by a depressed Calla, shuffling her way up the beach.

"Maybe you could take Calla's mind off her father leaving by showing her what we gave you for your tenth birthday" Sid suggested when he noticed Blues concern.

"Do you think she'd be interested? But I can't; I promised to help you Jeana and Amos with the beach ramps" Blue realised.

"I think showing Calla and Emerson what they are in for is much more important and I believe Professor Adisa would agree with me."

"Okay Sid; I'll see if she's interested" Blue nodded.

He trotted off down the main ramp and soon caught up with the young girl trudging up the sand.

"Hey Calla, if you and your brother aren't busy, there's something I'd like to show you both."

"Busy; what earth shattering plans do you think we might have?" Calla snorted.

"Nothing really but I thought I should ask rather than just order you about."

Once again Calla realised she had over reacted and once again she was annoyed at Blues calm reply.

"So what is it then?" she asked.

"It would be better if I showed you" Blue smiled broadly.

"Okay then" she sighed "Let's go and find Emerson."

Soon after they had retrieved Calla's brother from his tent, they caught a lift back to the complex on one of the trucks. The young girl was a little sullen but soon after they arrived back, things began to happen to brighten the young girl's mood, even if only for a short time. Calla had spent some time inside the complex but Emerson, not so much. His first trip inside had consisted of down the ramp, follow everyone to the communications room, wait for a short time and then go back to the beach (with a little side trip to a kitchen for a snack). This time it was different though because it is difficult to get an idea of scale when you are driving down tunnels in an electric cart, but when you have been doing so for almost half an hour, perspective (in the feathered form of the Barn Owl of Slow Realisation) jumps out and slaps you in the face.

Calla huffed in a sign of her disapproval as Emerson declared once again how impressed he was at the size and complexity of the underground base. Unlike his sister, the seventeen year old could not stop craning his neck in an attempt to see through every crack in every door and follow it up by asking any and every question.

"How do you power this place? How did you get the sunlight down here? Can I drive the cart? How do you survive if there's a Tsunami? What's with all the chickens? How many cats are there down here? Where does the fresh air come from? Why are you still excavating more tunnels? Do you go swimming in the water tanks? What's an S.R.B? What time is dinner? Could you survive a direct hit from a meteorite? Are there any cute girls down here? How do you do a launch without a rocket? What does this button do? Woops... sorry."

"And I thought Blue was annoying" Calla mumbled to herself.

"What are we going to see now?" Emerson asked excitedly.

"One of my favourite places in the entire complex; I hope you like it."

Pulling the electric cart into another parking space outside another door, Blue led the Linwoods into yet another massive room that contained a machine like nothing Calla had ever seen before. Near the centre of the room was a giant egg. To be more accurate it was little bit like an egg, a little bit like a spider, but mostly like a white blob with stubby winglets seven metres off the ground. It did stand on eight legs but to be precise, it was no spider. The legs were all at strange angles of around thirty two degrees (give or take) in four V patterns making the strange thing look like it was drunk. Each leg was solidly anchored to the white blobbish machine at the top and the concrete floor at the bottom. Calla and Emerson stared at it in wonder as Blue turned on four large red power switches on a panel a few metres right of the door. A loud, yet slightly muffled humming started up in the next room.

"WHOA!" Emerson and Calla gasped as the machine suddenly jumped up another three metres; it almost seemed to be alive and trying to break free of its bonds.

After Blue had finished tapping out a few commands on the panels keyboard (how quaint), the aerospider slowly moved back until the door in its rear section was about two metres from an elevated walk way that encircled the room ten metres above the floor. The door turned out to be hinged at the bottom and it formed a ramp from the walkway to the machine when it was lowered.

"Okay then, let's go" Blue smiled as he jogged over to the steps that led up to the walkway.

"Go where?" Calla asked; she was beginning to suspect Blue was taking them into some strange walking vehicle and she found it more than a little disturbing.

"Not far" Blue replied "Just on a little capture mission in Low Earth Orbit."

* * *

 **What a week in space with two new Moon Missions announced; and here is me, living in one of the last countries on Earth not to have a space agency (sigh).**

 **Hi to all you cat lovers out there and thanks for reading.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Time is starting to get away from me and I am down to writing one chapter per week. Fortunately there are another 19 already done so I should be able to put out 2 per week till the end (cross fingers in hope). The hardest part about coming back here for re-writes and polishing, is realising what you don't know yet in the story and not being able to say anything about it; like Blues real name for example (he he he).**

28 First Flight

The lure of the strange machine proved to be too much for Emerson, but Calla was having no such trouble resisting it at all.

"Come on Sis; this looks cool" Emerson declared as he sprinted after Blue.

Calla was quite worried about what was going to happen when they entered the hatch, but she did not want Emerson telling their father she had been too scared to go with them; so under the influence of the Gannet of Peer Group Pressure, she followed her brother up the steps.

"Err... what is this thing exactly?" she asked as they entered the open hatch.

"It's a simulator" Blue informed them both.

"What does it stimulate?" Emerson enquired; he ran his fingers along the inner wall as if he expected to find that it was nothing more than an illusion.

"Simulator not stimulator" Blue grinned.

Emerson rushed to take the second front seat while Calla sat directly behind her brother. In the front of the cramped machine were the frames of several glassless windows but the trio could not see outside the pod because the widows looked out to the inside of the curved nose. If anyone had reached forward they could have easily touched the inner wall. It took the Linwoods almost three minutes to sort out the five point harness belts but Blue insisted that they must be fitted properly.

"Okay we're all strapped in; now what?" Calla tried to sound nonchalant, but she was beginning to feel quite apprehensive.

"And now" Blue flicked a few switches "this."

The main lights extinguished and the cockpit panels lit up. Through the front windows an image appeared of a wetland with a beach beyond. On their left was a huge metal structure that towered high above them and as Calla craned her neck to look out the side window, the curved screen enabled her to see the concrete apron of Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre far below her.

"Wow; this is good" she admitted.

"And it gets even better." Blue smiled excitedly "Moving into launch position."

The young man moved a twin toggle switch and the rear of the simulator dropped down till the machine was almost completely vertical. Calla squealed as the image on the screen rotated in perfect unison, giving the illusion that they were indeed sitting atop a rocket in its pre-launch position. A tall gantry could be seen from the port windows as several voices spoke over the top of one another from a speaker in the lower centre of the panel between the front two seats. The only voice that Calla could keep track of was the one that recited numbers in a descending order while the others only seemed to relay information.

"Retract vent arm... Crew members close and lock their visors" the voices declared.

Blue continued to press buttons and adjust switches as the voices droned on.

"Capsule transferred to internal power."

"Ground launch sequencer is go for auto sequence start."

"Activate launch pad sound suppression system."

"Main engine hydrogen burn off system activated."

Calla and Emerson looked at each other as the entire machine began to gently vibrate.

"T minus six, main engine start."

The vibrations were no longer gentle as the entire capsule began to shake so hard, it felt like the whole machine was about to fly apart into tiny pieces.

"Four, three, two..."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Calla cried out over the noise.

"Booster ignition and lift off of the first crewed mission to Mars bringing in the dawn of a new era of human habitation on the red planet" the voice from the speaker continued relentlessly.

"ISN'T THIS GREAT?" Blue shouted over the vibrations.

After a minute had passed, the machine started to level out into a more horizontal position. The artificial view began to darken as the simulated launch vehicle left the simulated pad far behind and entered the simulated void of simulated space, but the shacking and rattling continued for another thirty seconds until another loud bang made Calla jump again.

"Solid Rocket Booster separation confirmed" the disembodied voice declared as the vibrations began to subside.

The view now consisted of a panoramic star field with the curvature of the Earth visible below just them as the shaking disappeared completely and was replaced by a low electrical hum.

"Welcome to space; I am Blue, your captain for this capture and docking mission. We will be orbiting at an apogee of..."

"Wait a minute; capture and docking?" Emerson was confused "Didn't the radio guy just say we were going to Mars?"

"Well yeah" Blue answered "but it's just a recorded voice and you could never go to Mars in a little ship like this; you need to have a vehicle capable of interplanetary flight. In this simulation, all the other components and sections of the ship are already in orbit and you have to chase them down and assemble them; fun huh?"

"How do we do that from inside a space ship?" Calla asked; she and her brother had never heard of anything quite like this before.

"Take a look behind you and above your head" Blue smirked.

Calla gasped as she looked up and saw there was a hexagonal dome above her and through the windows of the dome she could see the Earth slowly turning beneath the ship. She slipped out of the straps holding her firmly in her seat and moved underneath the dome. Blue told her to hold on to one of the grab bars on the inside rim and when she had done so, he started to turn a dial causing a two metre circle of floor under her to slowly rise up.

"In micro gravity you would simply float up, but down here on Earth you need something under your feet" Blue noted.

"You gotta see this Emerson" Calla declared "the view is amazing."

Emerson had expected the body of the ship to look just like the huge egg they had seen outside of the simulator. But as he joined his sister and gazed at the panorama that met his eyes, he saw the top of a very plain looking metallic tube with only a few manoeuvring thrusters and a long multi-jointed arm protruding from the sleek lines of the ship. He had to stare quite intently at the Earth before he could make out the inside surface of the simulator only an arms length away; it was in fact the most incredible artificial display Emerson had ever seen.

"If you follow the line of the ship, you should see the first component up ahead and slightly to the right" Blue informed his first time crew.

The siblings looked forward and soon saw what Blue was brining to their attention. It was an odd looking piece and Emerson would not have recognised as part of a space ship if it were not floating in space. The component looked like a geometry teachers dream come true as so many shapes could be pointed out on it. Firstly it was a cylinder at least three times as long as ship the artificial adventurers' were flying in, but it was encased inside a metal box frame with angled braces running along each side like triangles. There were a total of eighteen circular airlocks on the truss covered unit, with one on each end and four lined up evenly along each side. As they drew closer, Blue turned the ship into a sideways parallel course and manoeuvred the rear hatch to within fifty metres of the single front airlock.

"Now comes the fun part" Blue smiled as he pressed three red buttons on the flight deck and typed some code into the computer.

Emerson and Calla had not noticed what surrounded them at chest height. There were many kinds of controls, key pads and small screens that suddenly sprang into life and demanded attention.

"The manipulator control for the arm is at six-o-clock on the cupola" Blue thought he was helping but he wasn't.

"And a cupola is..." Emerson fished for information.

"And I can't see a clock anywhere here so I don't know what the time is" Calla added as she scanned the controls.

"Yeah sorry" Blue realised he needed to explain himself better "What your standing in is a cupola and by six-o-clock, I mean the back of the ship. The nose is twelve-o-clock, the right is three and the left is nine; get it?"

"Got it" Emerson nodded.

"Why don't you just say fore, aft, port and starboard?" Calla huffed.

"Well we do but we also..." Blue began.

"Oh leave him alone Sis" Emerson sneered "there are probably all kinds of jargon they use in space that we have to learn."

"Oh really?" she sneered "So we moronic surface dwellers have to bow down to our great and powerful underground scientific Overlords and beg them to impart their glorious wisdom upon us do we?"

"Yeah sounds about right, but he'll have to talk slowly and use small words for you Cal" her brother smirked.

Emerson hated it when Calla acted aloof and he probably should not have reacted like a typical big brother by pushing her even further, but sometimes he just couldn't help himself; Blues giggling didn't help either.

"Do you want a fat lip too?" she threatened quite seriously.

"I'm sorry" Blue smirked "I don't think you're stupid, it's just the way your brother put it; I'm not used to hearing sarcastic put down humour and he does it so well."

"And if you don't stop laughing at me, we'll find out how well you do at bruising" Calla snorted.

"Okay, you win, don't hit me. I'll put the first docking manoeuvre on automatic so you can see how it's done, then you can try the second one on manual if you like" Blue offered as he adjusted the computer settings.

"Here we go again" Calla huffed "You think I can't handle it eh?"

"Nobody can do it the first time" Blue responded "It took me..."

"I don't care how long it took you. I've been sailing all my life so I think I know how to bring two vessels into contact smoothly and without damaging them and besides, this isn't even real."

"Are you sure about this Calla" Emerson frowned "or is your ego running on overdrive again?"

"And the movements in space are three dimensional whereas a boat only moves in two dimensions" Blue added.

"Just stick it on manual control and let's get on with this" Calla was beginning to feel like the boys were ganging up on her.

"Okay but I'm putting it on the most basic settings; movement will be slow and no matter how hard you push on the control, the thrusters will only fire in half second bursts."

"Put it on the same setting you would use" she ordered.

Blue started to protest but thought better of it when he saw the fire of anger in Calla's eyes.

"You can get a general idea of your position and where the target is by looking out the cupola windows..." Blue began.

"Well duh!" Calla sighed.

"...but when you need to line up the docking ports, use the crosshairs on the monitor screen. The controls should be instinctive with your left hand joystick controlling movement forward, aft, port and starboard while the right joystick controls pitch, yaw and roll. If you want to stop all movement, just press the red button on the top of the right joystick and the computer will temporarily take over."

"This computer sounds amazing" Emerson whispered to his sister, who ignored him.

"So whenever you're ready play around with it and get yourself accustomed to the feel of the controls."

Calla gripped the controls as if she were trying to hold a bull back from stampeding and pushed the left stick forward. The last time the simulator had moved, she had been strapped in her seat but this time, the sudden lurch caused her to fall backwards. Keeping a firm grip on both joysticks, the new control movement threw everyone forward while pitching capsules nose up. Falling slightly to the right caused Calla to push and roll the simulator to starboard.

For Blue it was like a serious case of déjà vu except this time, both the Linwoods fell onto him.

 **The first draft of this chapter had Calla running scared after the simulated launch and the start of an all out war between she and Blue. But a few chapters later the whole story was becoming cruel and confrontational so I came back here to tone it down a little. Now as I write chapter 47, I'm glad the story didn't go off of that path.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hi everyone.**

 **Just found out one of my fellow writers isn't feeling well so I'm posting an early chapter to give her something to read; it starts off a bit wacky and I'm rather proud of it.**

 **Pity it will only take several minutes to read though.**

* * *

Chapter 29

At Eventual Sight

"Hey... are you okay kid?" Emerson asked.

Mild concussion was slowly becoming a new way of life for poor Blue but as his eyes began to focus once more, he saw something he'd never seen before. It is rumoured sometimes that in the seconds before a person dies, their whole life flashes before them as if the entire universe was saying 'I told you to do more with your life, but you just wouldn't listen'.

When a person regains consciousness after being knocked out, they can sometimes see life with a new clarity and notice things they had not noticed previously. And so it was as his vision returned, Blue looked at the girl standing over him and every impression of her face flashed before him.

He saw the ragged projectile who first knocked him out deep inside the tunnel. He saw the snarling beast threatening to stab him in the neck with a screwdriver and the suspicious fool doubting everything she was told. He saw the cranky child who would ask questions but get annoyed if Blue were the one to answer her and the aloof snob wanting to turn every task into a competition she could brag about. But as he moved on passed the unteachable know-it-all who refused to listen to instruction, he suddenly noticed a face with the look of caring and concern. Eyes wide and front teeth biting her lower lip, this was the girl Jeana Davey had once tried to bring to his attention.

"You're cute" Blue grinned sheepishly.

Neurobiologists, Behavioural Scientists and even Theologians could debate for years about the main reason why Calla's face turned bright red. Was it Blues unexpected declaration, her inability to contemplate the immediate future following the redirection of all mental function to the rapidly developing embarrassment centres of her brain, or was it simply her brothers annoying laugh?

"I've had enough of this" Calla declared as she turned away.

Losing her balance again on the slightly sloped floor, Calla stumbled into the rear hatch.

"Are you okay?" Blue asked with genuine concern.

"WILL YOU GET THIS THING OPEN?" she shouted as she thumped the hatch with her fist.

Emerson helped Blue up onto his feet and steadied him as they moved to the main control panel. The star field and the Earth disappeared as Blue turned off the imaging system and re-set the simulator. As it powered down, it levelled off and moved back towards the walkway before the hatch lowered and became a ramp once again.

"Maybe we should take you to see the doctor" Emerson decided as the clang of his sisters footsteps on the metal stairs echoed off the concrete walls of the simulator room.

"Don't worry kid" he smiled at Blue "she'll calm down eventually."

The two young men took the stairs down at a very slow pace; Blue gripped the handrail as if the whole room was moving because to him, it was. They found Emerson's sister sitting outside the simulator room on the back seat of the electric cart with her arms crossed and her face crosser. To her surprise and disgust, Emerson helped Blue into the seat beside her.

"For heaven's sake; do you have to put him next to me?" Calla protested.

"What's wrong with you?" Emerson sneered "Can't you see he's bleeding?"

Much to her surprise, Calla finally noticed her brother was holding his handkerchief against the right side of Blue's head.

The young girl turned suddenly mute when she realised this time Blue was really hurt and she was responsible. She held the cloth gently in place as Emerson tried to remember how to operate the electric buggy. Once he had found the on/off switch on the dashboard and the forward/reverse lever, the rest was pretty simple but he still panicked slightly when the cart began to move. With the ramp to the surface now open and many of the complexes inhabitants working either outside or on rebuilding vehicles, the corridors were mostly empty but after about eight hundred meters, the trio did find some people to help get them to the medical bay.

"What is going on with you lately Blue? This is the third time you've hit your head and it seems to be getting worse every time" Doctor Quill Vieira sighed.

"But to be fair, my sister was responsible for two of the three and the third was an exploding space bomb" Emerson noted.

"Space bomb?" the doctor's eyebrows raised so high, they almost rose above his head.

"Surface dwellers slang term for meteorites" Blue mumbled as Quill finished cleaning the small wound.

"The bleeding has stopped and I don't think you'll need stiches, but I'm confining you to your rooms for the next twenty four hours; you need to rest."

"But I feel fine" Blue protested as he dropped from the examination bed to his feet.

He may have been able to convince Doctor Vieira, if he hadn't needed to steady himself upon landing.

"Back on the bed, lay down, half an hour, don't move" Quill barked his orders.

"Maybe I should leave you to rest" Emerson smirked "I have to go and see if my sister has recovered yet."

"I shouldn't have let her operate the simulator without more instruction" Blue shook his head "Was she hurt bad?"

"Only her over inflated ego, but I was referring to her recovery from what you said."

"Oh; did I get mad at her?" Blue asked guiltily.

* * *

Emerson found Calla where he'd left her in the doctor's outer office; she still looked a little worried.

"Is it bad?" she asked.

"No stiches and he's been ordered to rest for now, so no need to worry too much."

"Who said I was worried about him? Besides I'm more concerned about what he said afterwards."

"I think he was a bit delirious at the time because he thought he'd upset you by getting angry and shouting at you" Emerson noted.

"Oh good, I won't have too..."

"So I told him what he'd really said."

"You did WHAT?"

A few minutes later, Doctor Vieira came out to find Emerson sitting with his head back, trying to stop his nose from bleeding.

"Now what's happened" he sighed.

"I err... had a little accident" Emerson explained "I fell onto my sister's fist."

* * *

The day wore on in a dull way for Calla as she kept to herself in Sarah Spencer's rooms. Emerson helped Doctor Vieira take Blue to his own home next to Sarah's and put the convalescing boy to bed. Upon the doctor's request, Emerson remained in the living room and promised to check on Blue regularly.

"Is there anything I can read around here?" Emerson asked Quill "Preferably about this place and the Mars base."

Quill gave the young man one of Blue's data tablets and gave him a quick lesson in how to navigate it. Outside the base, work on the road, the vehicles and the ship slowly progressed while a small yacht made good time as it sailed southeast all through the day. As the sun neared the western horizon, the Star Runner rounded the peninsula of the southernmost bay south of Padang where a flotilla of boats and two small ships awaited their arrival.

Professor Adisa had to admit he did not know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what he was looking at. The fleet consisted of mainly rough looking sailing yachts (some were even smaller than the Star Runner) and five sea going tug boats. The largest vessels were two open water ferries of the old single hull design about one hundred metres long, but Maynard Linwood was headed for a ship half the size; it was a two masted Brigantine and it bore the name One and All.

The Star Runners crew tied up to the ship alongside a rope ladder where several people stood ready to help everyone on board.

"No offence Maynard but I already prefer this ship" Henry Deming declared "I can't feel the deck move on this one."

"Not much of a sailor eh?" a tall sun dried man grinned "Not surprising after being stuck on that poor excuse for a bathtub."

"Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce Captain Reed Branson" Maynard smiled "Large in stature and ego but small in mental capacity and tact. And these terrified faces belong to Doctor Henry Deming and Professor Linton Adisa."

"Looks like you've struck gold Maynard; we're always happy to have a doctor on board... I'm not sure we'd have much use for a professor though."

"Sorry to disappoint you sir but I'm a biologist, not a medical doctor" Henry stated "although I have been known to apply an adhesive strip or two in time of need."

"Welcome aboard anyway." Captain Branson nodded before turning to Maynard "We've sent a few boats ashore to see if they can find any water and to see if there are any people in the area. I assume you didn't stop here?"

"No we were on our way to a bay in North Sumatra" Maynard replied "It offered more shelter for the fleet but before we got there, a badly timed storm brought the Star Runner ashore near a..."

Stopping mid sentence, Maynard glanced at Professor Adisa and decided on a new direction.

"This is too much story to go in to now because I've got news like you wouldn't believe; I'd like to get the fleet together to break the news to as many people as we can."

The Wood Duck of Curiosity faced down against the White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern beak to beak on the foredeck of the One and All. Captain Branson wanted to find out what his friend was alluding to but he took Maynard at his word and quickly organised the flotillas version of a town meeting on the larger of the two ferries. As Linton and Henry looked out over the small crowd of faces, they were surprised to discover there were people from all over the world amongst them. Linton talked to a few while the meeting was organised and discovered many people had fled the northern hemisphere to escape the war with the EFA over twenty years ago, but were now wanting to return to see if their homes still remained; most did not have high hopes.

Maynard meanwhile had some fast talking to do as he explained to his wife Ursula why her children were missing?

"They're perfectly safe dear in an underground complex further up the coast and a few hours inland" he crossed his fingers hoping she would be satisfied; she wasn't.

"I promise you Mrs. Linwood, your children are in a very safe place and are being well taken care of" Professor Adisa tried to reassure her.

"And besides" Captain Branson interrupted "these two are great hostages; one's a professor and the other one says he can do first aid."

"Hostages?" the Professor gasped.

"Oh not my hostages" Branson grinned "but you know what a worried mother can be like when her kids are missing."

* * *

 **One more chapter down and about twentyish more to go; but first, bed time.**

 **zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz**


	30. Chapter 30

**This is a very 'Bird Heavy' chapter; it is also the one to introduce another link to the Dragon Riders (yay).**

* * *

Chapter 30

Setting Out Part 3: Altered Destinations

The sea of faces before him did not fill Linton Adisa with much in the way of self confidence. They had the look of people who had desperately tried to believe in a bright future, only to have been disappointed again and again. After so many years living deep underground, Linton had pushed his memories of past meteorite destruction as far back as he could manage, but for the people in front of him it was still a regular part of life.

It looked like it was going to be an interesting evening for the refugees in the fleet, as well as for the two men from the Railgun Complex. The Wood Duck of Curiosity felt sure he was going to easily fill his weekly quota and the Southern Lapwing of Nervous Anticipation along with the Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise, also hoped to do well as the day progressed; the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock hung around in the background looking on just in case he could butt in as well.

Professor Adisa started off by asking what everyone knew about the Mars Colony Project and the war with the EFA. Most were well informed and did know all about the recent past; a few even had firsthand experience of fighting in the war, but there was one man in particular named Jack Sumner who had been on the Aircraft Carrier USS Ernie Jackson when Linton and his crew had landed while being transferred to the complex fifteen years ago.

"A few weeks after you and your friends were evacuated on the transport planes, we returned to San Diego and our carrier was decommissioned" Jack told the assembled group. "We were all thanked for being a major part of the effort to save humanity and told there was no more to be done because the mission was completed. I tried to find out more, but no details were ever given. It seemed as if most of the officers were just as much in the dark as the rest of us."

"I know a lot of the details were kept secret for security reasons" Linton noted "I was the head of a major supply project for the Mars Base, but still knew very little about what was going on outside of my section."

""Exactly" Jack told the crowd "the carrier fleet would receive coded orders to go wherever we were ordered, but we would rarely know why."

"Has anyone ever come across a former member of the EFA?" Linton asked.

A small murmur ran through the crowd until Jack stepped on it with his next comment.

"If you were a one of them, would you ever admit it?"

The professor had to concede Jack Sumner could be right on the money.

"But I have to try and find out" Linton noted "I have to know if the conflict is over, or if the EFA will still rise up try to stop us."

"When are you going to tell us why we're all gathered here?" Reed Branson said impatiently.

"Sorry everyone; it's hard to break the old habits of secrecy" Linton admitted "I keep expecting an EFA attack even though years have passed and Mars Base is a reality."

Linton Adisa looked out at the desperate and innocent crowd and took a deep breath; he still did not feel comfortable about what he was about to reveal.

"Some of you may know there were three Railgun Launch Facilities around the world on the equator; one was in Kenya, one in South America and the third is not far from here. I lead a team of people who have been using the Railgun to send supplies and equipment to Mars for decades. To keep the base safely out of reach from the EFA, we were all living hidden underground for the last fifteen years."

Needless to say, all those present were amazed to hear about people living beneath the surface for so long.

"Before going into lockdown, we were awaiting the arrival of a shipload of equipment that would allow us to use the Railgun to evacuate more people from Earth; but I was informed the EFA had attacked and destroyed the ship in question, before it could reach us. A few days ago, Miss Calla Linwood took an unexpected trip down one of our Pressure Release Vents and became the first person on Earth to make contact with us since the day we shut ourselves off from the world. During her visit she informed me the ship was precisely where we had originally expected it to be and it appears to be intact; will still are unsure about why we were told it had been sunk."

"Wait... wait..." an excited voice called out from the back as an equally excited man tried to push his way forward. "Is it THE ship; the one with the big legs where April Haddock had her baby?"

"If you don't shut up DeGroot, I'll have you removed from this ship now" Captain Branson threatened.

Linton and Henry looked at each other with surprise written all over their faces. Who was this strange man named DeGroot and how did he know about April? They were both very curious but Linton decided to follow the lead of Reed Branson and let it go for now. Perhaps they could learn more later on.

"Um... err... where was I?" Linton tried to pull himself together "Yes, the ship; now we have what we need, it is still possible we could recommence the evacuation of Earth on a small scale. To do this we would need a lot of help with moving and constructing equipment and in exchange for help given, we can provide you with homes in the underground complex safe from most meteorite strikes."

"You want us to help you leave the planet while we stay behind?" someone a few rows back asked.

"It is true not everyone would be able to leave, but it would not be restricted to my people only. The main factor is age; the older you are, the less likely you'll get a seat off world. So as you could guess by looking at me, I'm not going" Linton smiled.

"Are you telling us you can get some of us off the planet and safely to Mars?" Branson asked bluntly.

"I'm telling you I want to try; I think everyone knows we are all living on borrowed time but I'm not ready to give up and as I said, if you have to stay on Earth, our complex is a pretty safe place to be."

"So how do you decide who gets to go and who stays?" another voice from the crowd asked.

"I know this isn't the perfect answer but try and think about it this way; if all the people standing around you were to be saved but you were not, would you want to help them anyway or would you want to have nothing to do with the whole project?"

Linton's words set everyone thinking and mumbling but he went on speaking louder.

"I have always known I was staying behind to one day die on Earth, but I also know this doesn't give me the right to tell you what to do; so I'll repeat my offer. We could use all the help we can get unloading the ship and rebuilding the railgun, along with many other tasks. I can promise anyone who is willing to help us, a place to live in our underground complex safe from tsunami, atmospheric explosions and near misses. The only events we are not protected against are direct meteor hits and planetary destruction. I cannot yet promise anyone will get off the Earth, but it is my goal to do precisely that. If anyone does not wish to take up our offer, we are still willing to help you on your way north with supplies and any mechanical help we can provide."

"If you expect us to make such a life changing decision without having seen this underground shelter, you're crazy" another voice shouted.

"Crudely put but I have to agree with the sentiment" Reed Branson nodded. "I don't see any reason why anyone who wants to come and see what you're doing, shouldn't be allowed too."

"Sounds fair enough" Linton agreed "How would you like to proceed?"

Captain Branson stood up and addressed everyone directly.

I would like to suggest we take a team up to inspect this place while the fleet remains in these protected waters. If this Professor Adisa is speaking nothing but bilge water, we can proceed on our journey but if not, any who wish to see for themselves can come and have a look later. What say you Professor?"

"I believe we can accommodate you" Linton smiled.

"Good it's settled then; let's all get some sleep and the One and All will sail on the morning tide" Branson declared sounding very much like Errol Flynn.

"And what time would the morning tide be?" Henry Deming asked.

"According to the charts, about 3:15 a.m."

"You have got to be kidding" Henry gasped.

* * *

Even though she was still quite annoyed with him, April found it impossible not to be moved by the softness in Luis's eyes.

"Promise me you will take good care of yourself while I am gone" he whispered gently.

"I'll take good care of the babies with me if you take good care of the baby you're taking with you" she smiled.

"You know we don't like it when you call us your babies" Abigail huffed.

"You will have to get used to it Abi because deep down, you know she will never stop" Luis informed his eldest daughter of what she did not want to hear.

"Good luck out there Horse Face" Saffron declared "and watch out for those meteors when you get close to Earth."

"I will Butt Head" Abigail replied before leaning forward and whispering "you take good care of Mom and Junior too."

It was not normal for the rival sisters to ever be civil with each other but Abigail could tell by the look on Saffron's face, she would do her best.

"We will be back on Mars soon after you start showing" Luis promised as he contemplated his wife's still slender waist.

Abigail and Saffron both smiled as their mother and father kissed passionately one last time before they parted ways once more.

"And then you are retiring from space duty forever" April ordered.

"I'm not" Abigail declared as the Toucan of Defiance firmly gripping her left shoulder.

"Don't bet on it kid" April smirked.

As the clean room attendants finished checking the Astronauts pressure suits, April and Saffron made their way into a side room from where they could look out onto the surface of Mars. Not long afterwards, Luis and Abigail entered the surface transport through a flexible airlock corridor. Soon they were being driven out to the ship where Commander Neville Sage performed the final system checks. The Mars Orbit Rockets were quite different than those previously used on Earth due to the reduced gravity and thin atmosphere. Each one was single stage to orbit and carried enough fuel to launch, manoeuvre in orbit and return later to the surface of the planet.

"About time you two got here" Sage sneered as Luis and his daughter exited the airlock and climbed up to the flight deck.

"We left the base ahead of schedule sir" Abigail explained.

"Tell your brat to get in her seat and keep quiet Dias."

"You must remember to only answer the Commanders questions and not to question his statements" Luis addressed April before turning to Sage "And I will ask you to refer to our trainee only by her proper title of Flight Cadet please Commander."

Sage stopped working at the keyboard in front of him and sighed. He was painfully aware Olive Roux would be listening in on ship communications and would have much to say later if he did not control himself.

"You are right of course Major; I apologise Flight Cadet for losing my temper. I do feel on edge right now but that is no excuse for my rudeness."

"Err yes sir; thank you sir" Abigail replied "and I apologise for speaking out of turn sir."

"You will learn Cadet and I'm sure you'll do just fine; even with an old dog like me who is so set in his ways" Sage felt quite satisfied he had just talked his way out of another chewing out.

Neville Sage was not a humble man in any sense and so the Whooping Crane of Prideful Disdain had made its home with him for most of his adult life. Little did Sage know but the Cranes presence was directly responsible for regular visits from The Pelican of Everything going Down the Toilet, who at this very minute was nesting at the back of the flight deck dressed in a bright orange pressure suit.

"This is the first time I've ever waved goodbye to Dad without Abi standing beside me" Saffron declared not wanting to admit she would miss her older sister terribly.

"I'm glad I don't have to leave you behind too" April smiled as she hugged her youngest child (youngest for the next eight and a half months anyway).

It seemed like the countdown would drag on forever but it still passed far too quickly for April's liking. At last all the rockets fired in perfect unison and the tall bell shaped craft lifted off of the planet and rapidly picked up speed.

"Come back safe" Saffron said through a tear.

"Come back now" April whispered to herself.

* * *

Abigail could not begin to describe the thrill of being launched in to space for the first time. The reason she couldn't was because of a feud between the Cormorant of Thrill Description and the Whooping Crane of Prideful Disdain who was sitting on Commander Sage; they both hated to be in the same room at the same time. In less than a minute the ship had left the thin Martian atmosphere and was rapidly making its way towards the Orbit Station.

During the evacuation of the Mars colonists from Earth so many years ago, they had travelled the interplanetary distance inside two huge rotating wheels. Each wheel was constructed from sixteen expandable habitats and formed a major part of the Mars Transfer Vehicle, providing the space needed for the colonists, a simulated gravity environment and all the supplies they would consume during their journey.

When the evacuation was complete, the MTV was reconfigured and the two largest wheels were removed leaving one small simulated gravity wheel for the crew's quarters on the interplanetary ship. Now repurposed as the Mars Orbit Station the twin wheels were maintained by a skeleton crew of two except during the changeover of MTV crews travelling between Mars and Earth.

"I hope you are taking careful note of your screens Flight Cadet" Sage noted.

"Yes sir; standing by" Abigail replied.

"Confirm correct line up for initial approach."

"Negative sir; I am showing a 0.72 degree misalignment on starboard yaw."

"And what is the acceptable safety margin Cadet?" Sage asked.

"1.5 degrees sir."

"So do accept the alignment as within tolerance?"

"Respectfully no sir; because we are still five kilometres from station and at our current trajectory, we will be exceed the safety margin in three point eight kilometres."

"She's good" the Commander admitted to Luis as he realigned the ship.

Fifteen minutes later, after a very smooth docking, the new MTV crew were welcomed on to the Mars Orbit Station. Luis could not help noticing the wide smile on Abigail's face as she unbuckled herself and experienced micro gravity for the first time.

"The Major and I are going to make contact with the MTV" Sage addressed the junior officer "Start getting our gear stowed near the opposite docking port and then report to me on the station command deck."

"Yes sir" Abigail nodded and turned to begin her task.

Several cargo ships had already brought supplies, fuel and equipment up to the station but every spare corner on Abigails transport was still packed to capacity and she estimated it would take her a good hour or more to move everything because she was still becoming accustomed to being weightless.

Down on the nearest planet, Abigail's mother and sister made their final preparations to leave the Mars Base for a few months while on a planet much further away, the brother Abigail did not know she still had, prepared to receive more visitors.

It appears the Goshawk of Upheaval had been very busy today.

* * *

 **Recapping something I said in a previous author note, it would be getting close to two years since I started writing this story but when I was a few chapters in, the film The Martian was released and there were a few similarities with bits of this story. I did a major rewrite so people wouldn't think I'd stolen ideas, then another film came out about a boy born on Mars coming to Earth; time for a second major rewrite and I hadn't posted the first chapter yet.**

 **Roughly six months later I started publishing this while vowing not to watch any new movies about space (like Gravity for example) until it was all done and posted. Last night I broke that vow when Interstellar was on TV.**

 **When I saw the dying Earth with people trying to survive as best they could and the secret underground base containing the only hope for humanities future run by an elderly professor (who at least was not Jamaican), my neighbors must have wondered what all the screaming was about.**

 **Oh well... too late to start again... again.**


	31. Chapter 31

**This was already a long chapter when I got the idea to include the letter from Blue and it soon became one of the longest chapters in the story so far, after chapter 30.**

 **Stripesicles222's last review had me giggling with anticipation; there is still so much to be revealed and I hope it puts you all on the edge of your seats (bwa ha ha).**

* * *

Chapter 31

Stranger than Fiction

Just before breakfast the following morning Emerson decided to assume it was once again safe to talk to his sister, so he went over and pressed the button next to Sarah Spencer's front door. After a brief greeting and kind offer of repast Sarah showed him to the dining area to meet with a person whose mood had not been helped by a good nights sleep.

"Blue's feeling better and the Doc has said its okay for him to go back out to the ship today if you'd like to come with us" Emerson offered.

"What makes you think I'd want to go anywhere with him?" came the terse reply.

"Oh dear" Sarah half smiled "What has our boy done now?"

"You didn't tell her?" Emerson half scolded his sister "After Calla knocked him out... again, he said something unexpected as he regained consciousness."

"What did he say?" Sarah expected Blue may have been quite rude.

"He said I was... cute" Calla almost whispered.

For some odd reason, Sarah had the same reaction as Emerson did at the time of the offending remark. If only Calla could have been aware; she was being followed by the Pilgrim Goose of Uncontrollable Laughter.

"It's not that funny" Calla huffed.

"It wouldn't be" Emerson admitted "but your reactions always make it so."

"Well of course I react you dunce; what choice do I have?"

Emerson thought for a moment until a brilliant thought came to mind.

"You're looking very beautiful today Ms. Spencer" he stated.

"Thank you good sir" she replied as if she were in Dickens novel "nice of you to notice."

"That, my dear sister, is how you should react to a compliment."

Calla head moved back and forth so quickly between Emerson and Sarah, she looked like she was watching a game of turbocharged light speed tennis.

"Oh... shut up, the both of you" and she returned to her eggs on toast.

"Perhaps I should read you this letter Blue wrote" Emerson said as he unfolded a piece of paper and sat down.

"Oh no" Calla sighed and prepared to be embarrassed once more.

"Ahem... Dear Calla" Emerson began "our first meeting was far from ideal, through no fault of yours, and my inexperience with new people has not helped our situation at all. Please be assured that although my latest faux pas was true, it was not my intent to upset you or curry favour. Also I have not been trying to make you feel like you are not intelligent because of your inexperience with many of the systems and machines I work with down here. To the contrary, I have been quite impressed with the quality of your questions along with your curiosity and desire to learn. It should also have become clear to you that I too have a lot to discover about living on the surface and I am already grateful for what I have learned from you and your family. I do hope we can put aside our differences and work as friends in the future. Thank you, Blue."

"Is he kidding?" Calla gasped.

"You have to consider what it has been like down here since Blue was a baby" Sarah sighed "Even thought this place is huge and has close to a hundred people living inside, it has not been easy for us to get along day after day, month after month, year after year and whenever there was a clash of personalities, we only had two real choices; learn to live with each other and respect each person's failings as well as their strengths, or take up knife fighting. I'm sure Blue has been giving all this serious thought and only wants this tension between you two to end."

"Of course he does" Calla huffed "he's in love with me."

The Pilgrim Goose of Uncontrollable Laughter again justified his decision to follow Calla wherever she went. Eventually Sarah and Emerson managed to control themselves once again, so Sarah sat down next to Calla and put her arm around the young girls shoulder.

"When I was your age, I constantly had to deal with other children who would always be looking for any excuse to make fun of me; and I was no better. We were kids and it's just the way we were. But Blue on the other hand has never had to be cautious about the things he would say. He learnt from a very young age how to express himself honestly because there were no other kids to tease him or make him feel foolish. I know he likes you, but if he had a full on crush, we'd all know about it because he'd never be able to hide it" Sarah insisted.

Calla picked up the letter Blue had written and went through it once again, trying to take it at face value instead of always reading between the lines. Maybe she could deal with him after all, but it wouldn't be easy.

* * *

Coping with the movement of a rolling deck on the open ocean was not the way Professor Linton Adisa had planned to spend his twilight years, but at least the One and All was far more stable than the Star Runner.

"I think I could get used to this" Henry Deming decided "cruising along while everyone else runs the ship is the only way to travel. Much better than all the rope pulling and boom swinging we had to do on the Star Runner; I feel positively lazy."

"You're very fortunate the weather is mild" Captain Branson mused.

"Maynard's yacht seems to be getting away from us" Linton noted.

"Yes the lighter vessels are much faster, which is why the Star Runner is our scout ship" Branson noted "She has the best chance of keeping a safe distance and outrunning anyone with hostile intent."

"You've been attacked in the past?" Henry asked.

"Not since I left the Americas, but it pays to be ready."

Something had been bothering Professor Adisa since the night before and with everyone settled into the journey, he decided now was a good time to bring it up.

"If I may ask Captain, what can you tell me about the man DeGroot? You seemed quite annoyed with him last evening."

"About the only thing I can tell you is this; there is something not quite right about Maximilian DeGroot."

"Is he dangerous?" Henry asked with concern.

Maynard had been the only other person besides Henry and Linton, surprised by DeGroots unexpected knowledge about the ship because very little had been revealed about it when his sudden outburst had occurred. It was odd enough he knew about the ships legs but when DeGroot had asked about April, the two men from the Railgun Complex had both been pecked by the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock. The strange little man now stood near the bow of the sailing ship holding a tattered leather suitcase close to his chest.

"DeGroot has said a lot of loopy things in the time I've known him, but he's never done anything to make me believe he is dangerous."

"I wonder what is in his suitcase?" Henry pondered.

"Papers mostly" Reed replied "Almost all are in English, but there are many in some strange stick language; he has lots of drawings too but he rarely lets anyone see them."

"I see" Linton exhaled nervously "When we get to our destination we'll be watching him closely; I'd like to ask you to do the same."

"No problem but perhaps you would like to tell me what has got you so concerned."

Professor Adisa thought for a moment before he spoke.

"I have come to have some trust in Maynard Linwood and he appears to put much trust in you. So what I tell you, please hold closer to your chest than DeGroot is holding his suitcase."

"I'll do my best" Reed offered.

"April Dias, or April Haddock as DeGroot referred to her, was indeed on the ship in question" Linton began.

"And you are worried what he may do when he sees her?"

"April was killed in an EFA attack fifteen years ago, but her child was not and lives with us today. Chances are you will meet him soon after we arrive, but I think we should find out more about what DeGroot is up to before we let him meet the boy."

"I'll make sure he is not on the first boat to go ashore so you will have time to make preparations and talk to the boy in question; or hide him if you need to."

"Thank you Captain; I appreciate what you're doing" Linton nodded. "Is there anything else you can tell us about him?"

"Nothing useful" Reed pondered. "I first encountered him in Canada almost twenty years ago. I was working on a fishing boat one summer out of Bathurst, New Brunswick and he came in on a trawler. Apparently he'd been searching Newfoundland and Labrador for any old Viking settlements and was working his way slowly south; I didn't see again him for another ten years. Over time I'd moved on through the United States but went to South America just to avoid the fighting between the people of The Mars Project and the EFA.

One day DeGroot turned up in Barranquilla Columbia; he was arrested for looting at the remains of the local office of Births, Deaths and Marriages but he claimed he was only checking records. They let him go when he said he was headed to French Guiana and promised never to return."

Henry and the professor glanced sideways at each other; they weren't sure if there was a connection but they both knew Blues father, Luis Dias was Columbian.

"About a year ago I was in Montevideo Uruguay when I signed up as a member of the One and All crew" Reed Branson continued. "Soon after, we departed South America for Australia and I found out DeGroot was on board making his way to Europe; he's been travelling with us ever since."

"And you're now the captain of the One and All?" Henry noted.

"Funny how things work out" Branson grinned "Half the crew left the ship when we arrived in Sydney and soon after, we met the Linwoods. A few months of fitting out the ferries and we're on our way to Europe."

"You made the Ferries into floating homes I assume" Henry thought.

"And you'd assume incorrectly. There are people living on board but neither of them works anymore; we just use the tugboats to drag them around."

"What on earth for?" Professor Adisa asked.

"We've turned them into processing ships" Reed informed them "anywhere we can get food; we also get oil from plants, fish, and animal fats. One ship has the equipment for extraction and the other one has the gear to refine bio-diesel. It's how we get electricity and fuel for the tugs; along with the One and All and some of the smaller boats."

"But this is a sailing ship" Henry declared as the Grey Heron of Stating the Obvious strutted by in front of him.

"She's a Brigantine to be precise but she does have a diesel engine too. Don't worry men, we'll make sailors out of you yet" Reed chuckled.

* * *

By the time Sarah and her young charges arrived back at the ship, the metal ramps had all been put in place, providing a road across the sand and a single unit shipping container was already on its way to the complex entry ramp almost thirty kilometres away.

"Once we've got the first few layers of containers out, We'll have enough room inside to do some sorting" Willow Pascal informed them.

"How long will it take to clear each layer?" Calla asked, wondering if it would be done today.

"Not long" Willow answered "a couple of weeks maybe."

"WEEKS!?" Calla gasped as the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock flew in from the One and All and perched on a nearby railing.

"You have to remember there are over one hundred and twenty containers per layer; there's a lot of stuff on this ship and we have to make room for about 2% of it in the complex."

What will happen to the rest?" Emerson asked.

"Stored and sorted here till it's needed; we'll probably set up some construction projects here too" Willow answered.

"Sorry guys but this is just far too boring" Calla decided and to a certain degree, she was right. "I'm going back up to the deck to see if I can spot the Star Runner."

"Wait a second before you go" Sid called as he rummaged through his gear bag.

"Oh; thanks very much" Calla smiled as he offered her a pair of binoculars.

It took Calla a few minutes to get around to the side of the ship and begin climbing the ladder on the port bow leg but as she progressed upwards, the Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise circled overhead. Calla did not expect to hear the sound of people working up top but as she stepped onto the deck, she saw four people working on the bow crane and several more cutting up the pipes running fore and aft down the centre line of the ship. Not being sure exactly what they were up to, she began her long walk to the stern of the ship.

Upon her eventual arrival, Calla found there had been many changes made to the superstructure and the cabins within. She had not realised about a dozen people from the complex had begun cleaning and making alterations. So much had changed in the last few days Calla could hardly recognise the same filthy place where she had slept that first night; there was even air conditioning but she had no idea where the power was coming from.

She didn't recognise any of those working on the bridge, but Calla did notice a man with a very familiar looking set of tattoos.

"Hi there; I'm Calla" she introduced herself "I just noticed your Maori tattoo. Are you from New Zealand too?"

"Well hello little lady" the man smiled "You're close but I'm Samoan. Peter Moke is my name and I'm pleased to finally meet you; you're the kid who tried to take out Blue, aren't you?"

"What makes you think I wanna take him out?" Calla shot back "He doesn't interest me at all."

"No I mean you bombed him, fell on him; a total wipe out I hear. I must admit I was amazed when I heard you'd survived sliding all the way down one of the pressure release vents."

"Err, thank you... I guess. I was going to look out for my Dad in the Star Runner; how do I get out to the stern?"

"Come with me and I'll show you."

Peter Moke led Calla down one level before weaving through the corridors and out to the stern of the ship. He chose a place under the helipad where Calla had an uninterrupted view of the horizon and plenty of shade.

"Thanks; this will do nicely" Calla smiled as she removed the binoculars from their case.

Peter left and went back to the bridge as Calla settled down to wait. There was nothing to be seen in the distance yet so the young girl pondered all that had happened since she and her family had arrived and spent their first night on the ship. She thought the last few days had been quite an adventure, but now Professor Adisa was talking about sending them all to Mars. Was it a bad joke or a bad dream? The more she thought about it, the more Calla doubted it was even possible; especially with nothing but a ship full of fifteen year old junk. The Ibis of Doubt was strutting proudly along the handrail but the Wood Duck of Curiosity was definitely vying for attention as well.

Calla's train of thought was suddenly derailed when an unfamiliar alarm erupted and made her jump. As she wondered what she should do about it, the door behind her opened and Peter Moke called to her.

"You'd better come inside" he warned "a tsunami will be hitting us in a few minutes.

* * *

 **Sometimes the things we write are influenced by what we have read in the past. While I was doing a re-write and extension of this chapter, a light went off in my head as I realised I had given Calla many traits of the character Yukino Miyazawa from the manga Kare Kano. I suppose that means Blue must be part Hiccup Haddock and part Soichiro Arima.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Recently I was writing some more Dragon related parts of this story and wanted to get back to happenings in space. This week I've getting a lot of space stuff down and desperately want to get back to the Dragon side. Yeah I'm fickle.**

* * *

Chapter 32

Surfs Up

"How do you know there is going to be a tsunami?" Calla was worried as Peter Moke led the young girl back to the bridge.

"I get the feeling there are a lot of things about our base you don't know about yet" Peter replied "we've got access to seismic and ocean movement sensors for a distance of about three thousand kilometres all around us."

"How long have we got to get off the ship and get to a safe distance from shore?"

"Why would you want to get off the ship?" Peter asked with genuine surprise.

Calla thought briefly about what her companion had just said and thought maybe this was the safest place to be when the wave hit; even if the ship did become the world's biggest surfboard. It would also explain why Peter was leading her further upstairs. When they reached the bridge, the first thing Calla noticed was all work had stopped and all the people she had seen before were standing out on the port wing with the Wood Duck of Curiosity, all looking out to sea.

"Bow ramp to bridge; any sign of movement yet?"

The voice had come from a two-way radio attached to Peter's belt and was recognisable as coming from Willow Pascal.

"Not yet but it shouldn't be long" Peter replied "Last report had it slowing but still travelling at around seven hundred kilometres per hour. Are you guys all set?"

"The ramp is up and the inflatable seals are at 65%; we'll be ready" Willow noted.

"Seal; does she have an inflatable penguin too?" Calla asked with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Not that kind of seal" Peter chuckled.

"I think I can see it" one of the gathered people noted.

The only sign visible so far was an almost insignificant lifting of the horizon but as time went on, Calla saw the obvious receding of the shoreline as the water drained away. A few nervous noises were emitted by the gathered throng as the White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern kicked a certain Wood Duck to the kerb. The ship began to creek as the supporting water flowed out from under the ship but within a few minutes, the flow had reversed direction and the levels began to rise.

Using her binoculars and turning her attention inland, Calla watched as her families tents were twisted and crushed by the rolling water. All her gear was safe in her back pack but she now needed another sleeping bag. The edge of the water crept on into the trees behind the beach as the ship continued creaking and began to vibrate.

"Any minute now and we'll be off" Calla declared nervously as her right hand gripped the railing so tightly, it was as if she were trying to crush it.

"I strongly suggest you stay here with us" Peter said, misunderstanding what she meant.

"Seals holding" Willow's voice on the radio informed them "Some leakage but nothing the pumps can't handle."

The deep roar created by the moving water had built up so gradually, nobody could say exactly when they had first noticed it but it had now become s loud, no one could hope to be heard without raising their voice substantially. As time and the sea rolled on, the level had not quite yet reached halfway up the ship's hull, but almost all of the nearby trees had all but disappeared below the water before being torn up and swept along with the flow.

Eleven minutes after the wave had first struck, Calla finally noticed that the ship had not moved a single discernible inch.

"HOW COME WE'RE NOT MOVING YET?" she shouted over the din.

"DON'T WORRY; WE'RE WELL ANCHORED" one of the group replied to her.

Calla could not believe what she was hearing. From her former home on the high ground behind Raglan New Zealand, she had seen firsthand what the powerful water wall of a tsunami could do, but there was no deigning the facts; the ship was still not moving. It took a full twenty minutes for the water level to peak but it had only receded slightly when the second surge hit. Twenty five minutes and two more waves later and the water finally began to drop. Tonnes of material and trees slowly moved back across the shore and out to sea. Unfortunately for everyone most of the debris would wash back ashore for weeks or even months, making life very difficult for all concerned but especially anyone on one of the small sailing vessels.

"Bow ramp to bridge; is it all over?"

"Looks like it Willow" Peter replied "but it will take hours for all the water to drain away. We'll head up to the bow and see how it looks."

Peter ordered most of his group to stay and continue their tasks in the superstructure while he took a few forward. Calla went with Peter along the port side while the two others walked up the starboard side. Looking down as they went along, they could see each of the ships legs was covered with debris which would make it very difficult to get down.

"Base to ship are you receiving; over" Peters radio crackled to life again.

"Still alive and still on the shore; over" he replied.

"We estimate the water reached about eight to ten kilometres inland. We've already started clearing the road again but doubt we will reach you before nightfall; over."

"Rodger that base. I don't expect we will be able to leave the ship for a few hours and will keep you apprised; over."

"Good luck Pete; call us if there's trouble. Base out."

"Looks like I'm gonna have to spend another night here" Calla resigned herself.

As they approached the bow, the hatch to the stairs opened up and Sarah Spencer stuck her head out.

"Hello; fancy meeting you here" she grinned as she stepped out on to the deck.

Emerson and Jeana Davy followed close behind as the parties met up.

"Hello Peter" Jeana greeted "I see you've met our tiny intruder."

"Tiny intruder" Emerson chuckled "I'm gonna remember that one."

"How are things down below" Peter asked.

"A bit wet but it's not too bad; Sid and Amos are already working on some modifications to the inflatable dam so it should seal more effectively next time" Jeana informed him.

"I hoping there won't be a next time Jeana" Sarah noted.

"Don't put money on it" Peter smirked "You'll lose every time."

Jeana went forward and looked over the bow followed by all the others affected by the presence of a Wood Duck. After a quick inspection, she borrowed Peter's radio and gave Willow a call.

"You're not gonna like this Willow, but the bow already has a debris piling up and it's only gonna get bigger."

No reply came over the radio, but everyone heard Willows roar echoing up from deep within the bowels of the ship as the Pink Headed Fruit Dove of Frustration flew out of the forward hatch.

"I guess there is no reason for us to stay down here" Willow decided "We'll be up soon."

With hours to wait and nothing more to be done down in the hull, everyone returned to the stern of the ship and helped Peters team with their work. Emerson was just as surprised as Calla at the change he witnessed up on the bridge. The entire area had been transformed into a sorting assembly line with two people gathering up all the papers and manifests strewn all over the place while three more sorted what was recovered into piles.

"Why are you bothering with all this trash?" Emerson asked.

"Comprehensive lists of what we've got, information about what happened after Professor Adisa and his team left the ship; who knows what we could discover?" Sarah responded.

"And we're pretty stuck up about record keeping" Peter added.

"Well... yeah; I suppose that's true too" Sarah reluctantly agreed.

Emerson and Blue were drafted into helping clear out the cabins by taking junk out to a growing pile on the deck while a very board (as usual) Calla went back to scanning the seas for her father's yacht. Hours passed and the water receded, revealing the incredible mess a series of water surges can leave behind, so work on the cabins was halted and work on clearing the wharf was begun. When Willow finally managed to get ashore and see the ship's bow, she almost felt like crying.

"One container!" she lamented "One lousy container unloaded and now we've got to start all over again."

"No way are we gonna clear this without heavy equipment" Sid noted.

"You know you can count on us to get it done as quickly as we can" Blue tried to console the frustrated Chief Engineer.

All concern about the latest set backs were put aside when Calla shouted down from the bow rail high above them.

"IT'S THE STAR RUNNER" she cried out "DAD'S BACK!"

Emerson hurried around to the port side of the ship while Blue and Sarah followed at a more leisurely pace. Sure enough Calla was right, but the small vessel was still a long way off shore and moving slowly to avoid damage from the floating debris in the water. By the time the yacht had made its way to the dock, Calla had climbed down the forward leg and was bouncing excitedly on the dock. The main reason she was so happy was because she had noticed someone through the binoculars she had not seen for a few weeks.

"MOM!" Calla called out as leapt onto the Star Runner.

"Wait till you hear what happened to me" she said ignoring the fact a lot had happened to everyone "and you won't believe this place; it's like nothing you've ever seen."

"I don't know sweetie" Ursula Linwood replied "I've seen a lot in my lifetime."

"Nothing like this place" Calla smirked knowingly.

Sarah Spencer approached the Star Runner amidships with a slightly worried look on her face but before she had a chance to speak, Maynard anticipated what she was about to say.

"Doctor Deming and the Professor are behind us on the One and All" he said as a look of relief washed over Sarah's face.

"It looks like you came through the tsunami unscathed" she noted.

"Yeah we were all far enough offshore so we just turned into it and went for a vertical ride. I don't think the bow was raised more than thirty degrees, but what about this ship of yours; I expected to see it lying on its side half a mile inland."

"If you thought these legs were impressive, you should see what's below the waterline" Sarah grinned "There's a central core inside each leg and it's drilled down into the sea floor. It isn't perfect, but to move this ship it would take a wave as least three times bigger than the one we just had."

"But what about the rest of the fleet Dad?" Emerson asked with concern.

"If the lookouts saw it in time, all the smaller vessels would have sailed out into it and should be fine but I am worried about the ferries" Maynard sighed "If the tugs couldn't get going fast enough, they're probably all up on the shore now. No point in worrying about it though, we just have to get back ASAP, see what happened."

Maynard's concern put a thought into Sarah's head, so she excused herself and went to borrow Willows radio. She realised they would need land access to the bay near Padang so she called up the base and ordered the road crews to redirect some equipment and personnel to the old south road; if help was needed, Sarah wanted to be ready to get there in a hurry.

* * *

 **So I read now there are some people who want to make Pluto a planet again along with 110 other bodies in the solar system... BORING!**

 **When I was a kid, planets were cool and interesting while everything else was just lumps of rock; but now we know better. Most of the moons around the outer planets are more fascinating than the planets they orbit with vast icy oceans, gravitational stress volcanoes, more water (and possibly microbial life) than we ever imagined and so many other things as well. Pluto too was just an odd rock until we learnt more about it; so it's not classed as a planet anymore... who cares.**

 **As a Dwarf Planet, Pluto is incredible. It doesn't even sit in the centre of its own orbital path; instead it orbits around a vacant point in space. All the bodies classed as Pluto's moons (Charon,** **Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx) also pretty much orbit the same point. The only reason we say they orbit Pluto is because it's the closest of the bodies to the point in question.**

 **So in reality, it looks like there are six bodies (Pluto, Charon and the rest)all orbiting a planet that isn't there.**

 **Now** **that** **... is cool. Planet, shmanet.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Happy days are here again, :-D**

 **I recently completed chapter 51, meaning I only have a few more to write and the first part of the Mars tale will be done. This is why I've decided to stop for a week and go through everything from this chapter forward before going on. Ergo there shall probably be more frequent postings from now on (3 per week perhaps).**

* * *

Chapter 33

The Aftermath

A few hours after the Star Runner moored back at the ship, the One and All dropped anchor four hundred meters offshore. Branson handpicked a few crew members to man the boat he would take to shore, before he addressed the rest of the crew and passengers.

"Right everyone listen up!" he commanded "With all respect to Professor Adisa and Doctor Deming, I want to check out this place for myself and verify their story. So I don't want anyone else going ashore until I give the okay; and yes, I am looking at you DeGroot."

"No going ashore until you say so; understood Captain" Maximilian DeGroot smiled nervously.

"Do you think DeGroot will do as he's told?" Henry asked a few minutes later as they rowed ashore in the lifeboats.

"God help him if he doesn't" Branson snorted.

It was plain to see on the faces of everyone who greeted the returning travellers, how relieved they all were to see Linton and Henry back again. They all knew being in open water was much safer during a tsunami than being close to shore, but it did not stop anyone from feeling anxious. Now however there were more problems to deal with, for when the Captain of the One and All found out the road to the complex had been temporarily cut off, he began to wonder if he should put off his visit.

"I'm sorry to give you the run around Professor, but I really don't want to let too much time go by before we set sail for Padang again. It's one thing to make a quick inspection and see what you are offering, but I can't leave everyone back at the fleet to fend for themselves after a tsunami; I have to get back there right away."

"I understand completely Captain" Linton nodded "we'll be here when you are ready to return. Also if you need our help for anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you Professor and I hope to see you again soon."

"Wait sir; before you go, I think there is something you should know" Sarah Spencer interrupted.

"What is it Sarah?" Professor Adisa asked while wondering what this latest disaster could be.

"Well... Mr. Linwood also mentioned wanting to hurry back to check on his friends so I err..."

"It's alright Sarah" Linton encouraged her "Tell us what you did."

"I called the base and redirected half the equipment working on the beach track, over to one of the inland roads to Padang. I also asked Wilbur to send down a camera drone; I hope you're not upset with me."

"No I'm definitely not upset Sarah but we will talk about it later" Linton noted.

"Am I to understand we can make it back to the bay much quicker over land?" Reed checked.

"Hopefully but I'll have to check; can you get us an update please Willow?"

The news Willow got from the complex was not perfect, but was encouraging. Using twenty year old road maps, the base personnel had begun clearing a way towards Padang only to find the road south was still in existence five kilometers from Mount Singgalang. It wasn't much more than a track now but it led the engineers straight into a small town another eight kilometres south.

The people of the town were surprised at first to see the construction equipment roll in, but the biggest surprise was reserved for the vehicle drivers when a middle aged man walked up to them and asked if they were from the Space Gun. The man turned out to be one of the local civil engineers who had worked on the complex for five or six years but had decided not to go underground when the complex went into lockdown. He had instead gone home and taken his chances on the surface.

Upon hearing the news, Reed Branson agreed to stay if the Professor agreed to drive him back to Padang as soon after the beach road was cleared. Everything seemed to be falling back into place after the tsunami until Willow's radio crackled into life again with an almost frantic message from Peter Moke.

"Willow can you check something for me with Professor Adisa? We've got a man here from the sailing ship who says he wants to help us sort out the ships records. Did that guy who brought you ashore send him?"

"DeGroot" Branson growled as he overheard the message from Peter.

"So he didn't stay behind after all" Henry huffed.

"Tell Peter we're on our way" Linton declared as he and Branson took off for the leg ladder.

"I don't know about you guys but I don't want to miss this" Calla ran off ignoring her mother's protests.

Emerson and Blue glanced at each other and shrugged.

"She's right" Emerson agreed and they both ran off after her.

The bridge of the ship was now the place to be as everyone now joined the stern bound exodus. Because of his advanced years, Linton found the ladder climb difficult, but not impossible although he did need to catch his breath at the top. It took another six minutes to fast walk the length of the massive vessel and when they arrived, Peter had escorted DeGroot out to the deck and was involved in a heated discussion with the odd intruder.

"DEGROOT; I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY ON THE ONE AND ALL!" Branson shouted as he stormed up.

Whenever the captain started shouting, DeGroot found it was not easy to keep his nerve.

"Ah um no, no Captain; you told me quite clearly... yes indeed very clearly, not to go ashore and I, um I err have followed your orders and have stayed away... well away from the... from the shore... yes."

"Don't split hairs DeGroot or I'll split you" Reed Branson threatened "You know exactly what I meant."

"Err no Captain, I um wouldn't dare disobey your orders again but you never said the ship was off limits um... sir and well, now we are here, I've got to know; yes I have to know. And the answer may be in the ships records. I swear I wasn't going to steal anything; just read and study. I can help; I can help these people, these nice people with their sorting, yes. I'd like to help if you'll let me sir."

"Stop babbling DeGroot" Reed sighed before turning to Professor Adisa. "I'm not sure what he's talking about but just give the word and DeGroot is back on the One and All, shackled to his bunk."

"What is the answer you are looking for Mr DeGroot?" Linton decided it was time to try and find out; assuming he could make sense of the strange man's rants.

"Well it's the ship, isn't it? It's here, it's really here and it shouldn't be; shouldn't be at all but I knew. I knew it must be close by when you introduced yourself yesterday because you were on the ship, but you already know that. And of course you are not dead like the records say so I knew if you weren't dead and the ship was here, then... then... WOW!"

"What records are you talking about Mr DeGroot?" Linton pushed.

"Ah yes, the records; so many, so much to go through, so much to read. Let me see; this would be San Diego; or was it Edwards Air Force Base? These were the records that said April Haddock was on the ship too and so if you are here Professor, then the child must be here too, must be; the child of April Haddock."

Upon hearing DeGroot mention his mother, Blue moved a little closer.

"Why would there be records about me in San Diego?" he asked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH, IT'S YOU!" DeGroot cried out when he saw the young man.

Everyone jumped at the sound of the scream and they were shocked when DeGroot rush forward with his arms outstretched. Reed Branson grabbed the excited man by the shirt as he rushed by and pushed him back against the steel wall.

"You're skating on thin ice DeGroot" Branson sneered.

"Sorry Captain, very sorry; I just lost my head for a second there" DeGroot tried to explain "but after all these years, to actually find him. Its... its..."

"This is going much deeper than I first thought it would" Linton sighed, wishing they were all back at the complex. "Maybe we should go inside; what have you got we can use Pete?"

"Crews dining room" Peter Moke replied.

"Then please lead the way; let's go everyone."

"What have you gotten us into?" Ursula Linwood whispered to her husband.

"Oh come on Mom" Calla protested "This is the most interesting place we've ever been to; and as for what's really going on, it's like a total mystery."

* * *

A very different mystery had been uncovered millions of kilometres away on the Mars Transfer Vehicle but those who made the discovery, now had many questions and no way of getting any answers.

"We have to tell them" Ruth declared.

"Of course we have to tell them their son is alive, it goes without saying; but we have to be careful because we're not supposed to know" Jarred replied.

"Nobody is supposed to know" Ruth mulled over in her mind "but I think Roux and Sage did at the very least."

"I can't believe they would keep news about their son from Luis and April; it defies logic."

"There's something deeper than logic at play here Mr. Spock" Ruth noted "My first guess is they didn't want Luis going off to Earth to try and get his son back."

"Getting to Earth isn't the problem" Jarred sighed "it's getting off it again; unless the Ship did make it to the Railgun site."

"That's a big if; my second guess is Roux always knew but lied to April" Ruth pondered "Think about it for a minute; we all know the official story of how April is evacuated but leaves her baby behind because of the danger she was flying into. She makes it back but is told the ship was sunk with all hands lost. But now we find out Professor Adisa and everyone else are all still alive; therefore it is probable the ship was never sunk."

"But why tell us all it was?" Jarred asked as the Pink Headed Fruit Dove of Frustration floated past the starboard porthole in histories smallest spacesuit.

"You've come across the one thing I can't figure out, but we still have to tell Luis and April."

The couple thought silently for a moment until an idea finally struck.

"I've got it" Jarred declared "Luis and I are scheduled for the next trip to Earth, so chances are high, he is already in orbit. Focused laser voice communications means no one on Mars would receive the transmission and as the ranking officer, he could order all others off the bridge; we would only be talking to him."

"But if there are not going to be any more supplies from Earth, surely the trip would be cancelled" Ruth put forward.

"Careful Ruth; we're not supposed to know about the messages from Earth and if Sage ever discovered we succumbed to curiosity..."

"All we can do is try I suppose" Ruth resigned herself to try Jarred's plan.

As the ship continued to speed through interplanetary space, its crew aligned their communications transceiver with the Mars Orbit Station and sent off a hailing signal. A few minutes later a return audio signal was received as a familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Kinderman; what do you want?" Commander Sage barked.

"Oh crap" Jarred gasped, being careful not to press the transmit switch.

* * *

 **It would have been about 6 weeks ago when I got the idea of introducing Maximilian DeGroot, so it's good to finally get his story out.**

 **He really spills the beans next time.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Time to link up this story with some of my old ones – I hope it works out.**

* * *

34 The Man from Elydonia

The visage of Commander Neville Sage on the screen in front of him sent shivers down Jarred Kinderman's spine, so he had to think fast.

"Ah... hello sir; I must admit I did not expect to see you on the Orbit Station."

"Yes there have been some changes made; so what do you want?"

"I was hoping to talk to Major Dias sir about the load we are carrying."

"What about it?" Sage was always short and to the point.

"Well err... we sent a manifest list to Mars and we all know April has been pushing the citizens council for permission to start a second colony, so I was going to ask the Major if there was any news sir."

"Yes it has all been sorted out so don't worry about it" Sage was blunt. "All will be explained when you get back. Is there anything else Kinderman?"

"Err no sir; MTV out."

With communications cut, Jarred and Ruth just stared at each other for several seconds.

"We should be able to tell him when we're back on the station" Ruth hoped "Sage won't be with us all the time."

"I certainly hope he won't Ruth."

* * *

Back on the ship, DeGroot was very pleased to have all eyes on him as he began to speak again. He felt much calmer sitting at the large table instead of standing outside in the hot sun surrounded by tense people.

"This is a real treat for me" he admitted "No one ever wants to hear my whole story."

"We just want to find out who you are, what you're doing and why you've been looking for Blue?" Professor Adisa said in calming tones.

"So tell us; are you now or have you ever been associated with the Earth First Alliance?" Sid asked accusingly.

"Oh Sid."

"Yes Professor?"

"Shut up!"

"Yes Professor."

"Just start from the beginning" Linton encouraged.

"As you already know, my name is Maximilian DeGroot and I am a record keeper and historian. Have any of you ever heard of the Kingdom of Elydonia?"

All those at the table glanced back and forth to see if anyone else had heard of the place DeGroot spoke of, but none had.

"Would it help if I said it was west of Gondland and Mandoria, and north of New Loran?" but everyone continued to look puzzled.

"It does not surprise me because very few people did know about these places, even before the first meteor strike over fifty years ago. Even I am not even sure of Elydonias exact location myself, but I believe it was somewhere on the west coast of Europe between Norway and Belgium. Many centuries ago, an ancestor of mine named Yolon DeGroot was the keeper of the Kingdoms artefacts and treasures during a time of political upheaval. A particularly unjust king was overthrown, followed by a short lived civil war. During this time, the new king was married to a beautiful yet mighty warrior maiden from the Viking tribe known as The Dragon Riders of Berk."

"Dragon Riders?" Calla (along with a few others) gasped.

"I wouldn't take the name literally" Professor Adisa smiled "Vikings would often adopt fearsome names and adorn the bows of their longships with wood carvings of dragons and other mythical beasts."

"Oh I believe the name to be a true representation of these Vikings" DeGroot responded "The records of my ancestor say the new Queen had extensive changes made to Bolthorn Castle to accommodate her dragon named Skywolf."

"You can't really expect us to believe this rubbish?" Captain Reed Branson's head dropped into his hands as he sighed.

"No I don't" DeGroot replied bluntly "Nobody ever does; but I believe it and I have devoted my life to putting the lost histories back together again."

"But what does any of that have to do with Blue?" Emerson asked.

"Ah yes; various clues I'd discovered led me to a man in England named Gerwin Haddock, who also knew quite a lot about the history of his family. Unfortunately though, by the time I tracked down where his family lived, he had passed away for he was a very old man. There would have been other family members but with so much destruction on Earth because of the meteors, his granddaughter April was the only one I could find any records about. This was because of her involvement in the Mars Project but by the time I tracked her down, I was once more too late; she had already gone."

"Yes she died soon after I was born" Blue lamented.

"No, not died" DeGroot corrected "gone... to Mars."

To say the last comment caused a commotion among the people from the Railgun complex would have been the granddaddy of all understatements. The Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock had invaded the room and brought a dozen or so friends with him.

"That's absurd" Sarah thumped the table "I saw her..."

She stopped herself from completing her sentence before beginning again in a measured voice.

"I saw it happen... and I wasn't the only one."

"I remember the flash in the sky" Sid agreed "and I always assumed April's helicopter was..."

It seemed everyone was finding it difficult to finish their sentences.

"Wait a minute DeGroot" Linton interrupted "didn't you say earlier the records you found in the USA stated the ship was destroyed and we were all dead?"

"Indeed yes; but I heard rumours and so I kept hoping."

"I've been trying to work out how April could possibly leave her child behind" Sarah admitted "but if she were told the ship was gone with all on board lost..."

"Just as we were led to believe she was dead..." Sid added.

"And later informed the ship had fallen to the EFA" Linton threw into the pot of now obvious lies.

"So none of it actually happened" Willow sighed.

"You're missing one more horrifying fact" Amos declared as everyone turned to him "If April's death was faked for our benefit, then what attacked us was not an EFA controlled drone. In order to make it appear to us as if the Medivac Helicopter had been destroyed, our own forces must have been in control."

"Two things have always bothered me" Linton revealed "From where was the Attack Drone controlled, and why wouldn't the EFA send a squadron of piloted fighters if they wanted to sink a massive ship like this one?"

The room fell into a deafening silence as the group considered what Amos and Linton had said. Maynard's family and friends were all unsure exactly what Linton's group were talking about, but they knew some very serious vibes were going down. After giving it some thought, Professor Adisa came to a startling decision.

"I know it won't be easy Mr. DeGroot, but do you think you could show me exactly where you found out this information? I just may want to go there for myself."

"Oh come on Linton, you cannot be serious" Doctor Henry Deming said angrily "You want to go all the way back to America on some kind of wild goose chase? What on Earth do you expect to achieve?"

"The only reason I can think of for all this deception, was to keep us from sending more colonists to Mars, while still enabling us to send supplies and equipment. So if our own leaders were willing to use our fear of the EFA against us, we need to know what to expect if we should try to send people to Mars today. I do not want to start trying to save people and end up sending them to their deaths at the hands of unscrupulous, manipulative bastards. We spent fifteen years locked up underground because I believed the information I was given was true and I'm not going to make others pay for my naive stupidity ever again."

"Don't beat yourself up too much sir" Sarah said with concern "we all fell for it."

"Okay then" Deming replied "You've convinced me."

"One point though" Reed Branson noted "he may be a thorn in my side, but DeGroot is a part of our group. So as his Captain I will not let you just take him against his will; it must be his decision either way."

"Yes of course" the professor agreed "What do you say Mr. DeGroot."

"I've been searching for years trying to find a descendant of the Dragon Riders; I just want the opportunity to talk with him and share what I've learned."

All eyes turned to a very nervous looking Blue Dias

"What do you think Blue?" the professor asked eagerly.

"I err... think... everyone should stop staring at me and give me time to really think."

* * *

It wasn't easy at first, but Blue eventually managed to get people to stop following him while asking questions or giving advice. He wandered along the shore for a while, soaking in the sea air and marvelling at the beauty of it all. The last time he felt the cool refreshing water on his feet, he was knocked senseless by an exploding lump of superheated rock plummeting through the upper atmosphere. This time his senses were finding it hard to process all he had recently learnt.

When he first decided to leave the complex, it appeared it would be a very long and drawn out process, giving him time to get used to it all. But then Calla had fallen in, knocked him out and changed everything. Now he was outside at last, there were new people arriving almost every day and West Sumatra was not as deserted as he and his friends had once thought. And now he's discovered his mother is alive and well, and living on planet Mars.

Blue felt as if he had been standing by the road of life waiting for a bus, when along came four all at once.

* * *

Even though he had finally found the person he had tracked halfway around the world, DeGroot was ordered to leave Blue alone and only answer the boy's questions (if he had any). Reed had been adamant about this order and had even made the usual threats of violence if he was disobeyed.

Fortunately DeGroot was still very keen to peruse the paperwork left on the ship and so after much persuading (ie: begging), Professor Adisa and Captain Branson both gave him their permission to help before they left. When Branson finally reached the entrance to the complex, there was some good news and bad news waiting for him. The good news was there were no casualties and no serious injuries back at the fleet he had left near Padang. The bad news was both ferries were now onshore wrecks.

The Complex Road Team who had diverted south, along with help from the town they found on the road to Padang, had managed to get through to the bay where the fleet had been anchored in only half a day. Most of the people from the fleet were taken back to the town temporarily but a few were brought back to the Railgun to meet up with Reed.

"When the spotters saw the wave in the distance, we knew there wasn't enough time to start hauling the ferries out to sea" Jack Sumner reported to his captain.

"So what action did you take?" Branson asked.

"We let the smaller craft make a run for it while we evacuated everyone else onto the Tug Boats; then we all made for the open ocean."

"Losing the ferries is a real setback, but you made the right decision Jack" Branson agreed.

As they all settled in for the evening, Professor Adisa called yet another meeting with his department heads while Sarah and Blue were given the task of taking Branson and some of the One and All crew on yet another tour, and showing them the basics of the complex. Maynard, Ursula and Emerson offered to help some of the complex staff set up a temporary indoor camp for the visitors, while Calla was more interested in following Sarah and showing off what she had already learned. When the initial tour was finished, Reed Branson led his crew to the now converted warehouse to talk and sleep.

Much to her disdain, Calla was ordered by her mother to stay put for the night with the rest of her family, but Sarah was called in to see Professor Adisa to receive some interesting news.

"I was surprised when you thought you may be in trouble for removing some of our road crew and redirecting them to help Maynard's friends" Linton paced back and forth as Sarah and Blue sat and listened.

"Well I knew it was very important to get the road between the beach and the complex entrance reopen, but..." she started to explain but was cut off.

"But the welfare of those possibly suffering nearby could not be ignored" Professor Adisa agreed.

"So... why did you want to talk to me about it?" Sarah wondered.

"The actions you took in my absence verified for me, a decision I had already made many months ago. In the last hour, I took my decision to the other Complex Team Leaders and although they did have some things to say about it, they all agreed with me."

"Agreed with you about what?" Sarah was still wondering as the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock perched itself on the top of the couch close to her left ear.

"If you agree to accept the position Sarah, starting tomorrow you will be the new Head of the Railgun Project."

Even a mythical magpie has a squawk loud enough to wake the dead.

* * *

 **When I decided to make Sarah the new leader (about two months ago) it was because the Professor had died. But when I started on the DeGroot revelations, new ideas came about what Linton Adisa would do when he heard the news and so his life was saved.**

 **Good for him :-D**


	35. Chapter 35

**I'm glad I sat on these chapters for a while as so much is being... changed is not the word... more like clarified.**

* * *

Chapter 35

The Deep End

Doctor Sarah Spencer did not sleep very well at all that night. Professor Adisa's little bombshell had left her feeling quite unsure of herself, even though he stated plainly she had already received all the experience she needed to do a fine job.

"But I've got no idea what I'm doing" she complained and was surprised when the Professor gave a small chuckle.

"I think I see your problem" he said reassuringly "You mistakenly believed all these years, that I DID know what I was doing."

The former Railgun Complex Chief knew he had two important tasks to perform on the first morning of his semi retirement, but clearing his personal effects from his old office could wait and helping Sarah with the transition would require a good level of caffeine in his system.

"Hello Professor" an unfamiliar but smiling man greeted Linton in the dining room as he poured himself a strong black coffee.

"I'm sorry but... do I know you?" he asked the man.

"Don't look so worried" the man laughed "I would not expect you to remember me. My name is Fariz Amran and I was one of the local engineers who worked on this complex about twenty years ago. We talked a few times during your many inspection trips."

"I apologize for not remembering" Linton shook Fariz's hand and offered him a cup of wake up juice.

The Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise was only getting started when the discovery was made of the small town north of Padang; the mischievous sea bird had a lot more in store for Professor Adisa that day.

"No need to apologize Professor; back then your life was fly in from the US, check on the progress and then fly out again. Each trip you must have spoken to twenty people or more and your mind was definitely on the Railgun and Mars; not on social pleasantries."

"And you've been living south of here ever since? We assumed everyone had left" Linton admitted.

"I can tell you all about it if you like" Fariz offered.

Professor Adisa did indeed want to hear what Fariz Amran had to say because he hoped it may just fill in more of the blanks; and so they sat down at one of the dining tables to talk some more.

"What was your main task back then?" the Professor started with.

"I was working with a team from the Netherlands who were installing all the power capacitors along the length of the tunnel. It was perfect for me because my field is electrical engineering; also I speak Dutch and so I became a liaison with the other teams."

"And you left before lockdown?" Linton asked.

"I was only here for four or five years; when the Dutch team were finished they flew back to Europe. I was offered more work here, but I wanted to get back to my family. I greatly admired what you were attempting here and I fully supported the whole Mars Project, but my wife and children needed me to come home eventually."

Professor Adisa tried not to think about his own family, lost so many years ago when a meteorite struck northwest Germany, but it was not easy.

"There were a few others who left about the same time I did and when we got back home, we let everyone know how important it was that you remain hidden from the EFA and so you may find this hard to believe, but we gave all our friends and neighbours special training about what to do if any strangers came looking for you; and about a week after you went into lockdown, some heavily armed men did."

"Was it the EFA?"

"I honestly don't know; they asked some questions about foreigners north of town so we just pretended to be completely ignorant. At first their leader didn't believe me but I told him we didn't go north because of possible volcanic activity, he accepted it at last. After a few hours of poking around, they moved on and did not come back. Men with high tech weapons and equipment tend to assume rural people are stupid; we let them think we were, and they were stupid enough to believe it."

Linton and Fariz could not help but laugh at the story.

"It must have been frightening at the time though" Linton pondered.

"Oh it was; mostly because I wasn't sure if they had come to protect you, or stop you and without knowing for sure, I could not take the risk after what happened to ..."

A look of horror fell over Fariz's face as he realised the professor was unaware of what he was about to say.

"What's wrong Fariz?" Linton asked.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll have to be blunt; the men who camouflaged the main entrance ramp after you were locked in..." Fariz took a breath "were killed soon after they left here."

"Harry's dead? What... err..."

After so many years and so much destruction on the surface, Linton knew in his heart many of his old friends and work colleagues would no longer be alive, but hearing the word 'killed', sent the professors brain into a spin.

"Some local teenage boys were watching all the fuss going on during the lockdown from hidden vantage points on the high ground" Fariz Amran continued.

"When they returned to the town, the boys told us of a very odd looking helicopter they saw at the old runway near the beach and from their description of it, I figured it must have been a Sikorsky Skycrane. Your friend Harry and his team of civil engineers were evacuated from here in a pod attached underneath it. I didn't think it particularly strange until a day later when some of the men of the town returned from a fishing trip and told us about a helicopter they too had seen. They said the pod was dropped over the ocean and exploded before it hit the water."

"Oh my goodness" a tear formed in the corners of Linton eyes.

There was a moment of quiet as the professor thought about the last time he had see his friend of many years. It was when Linton Adisa was about to enter the Railgun complex before being locked down and Harry's crew were about to cover the raised ramp with sand, soil and dead trees.

"So as you can guess, when the armed men came by, it did not matter if they were friend or foe, we feared they just might want to kill anyone who knew about the complex so as I said before, we told them we never went up north because of the risk from the volcanoes."

"And they believed you?"

"They were not the sharpest men I'd ever met. I was relieved you didn't send up a supply capsule while they were still there; it would have been difficult to explain not knowing about you after a launch. Especially considering the noise was like a short burst from a Gatling gun, constructed from the cannons of a World War II battleship; even though such a device would be a physical impossibility."

"I'm finding it hard to believe Harry and all his men have been dead for fifteen years" Linton sighed "Wait a minute; when did the ship get here?"

"It would have been a few days after the armed men had left. The ship's captain told me he wanted to avoid another possible EFA attack, so he had taken am extreme southerly route through the Timor Sea to avoid detection."

"AH HA!" Linton leapt to his feet "That's why those armed men were here; they would have been sent to make sure the ship hadn't arrived unexpectedly. From what I've learned recently, it sounds like Prime Governor Redding and our supposedly selfless leaders, did not want us to have the capability to launch more people into space and so they tried every way at their disposal to stop it happening; even going as far as faking an EFA attack to get us off the ship so they could sink it. Fortunately for us, the ship's captain threw a proverbial spanner in the works by not staying on the planned route."

"It also explains why the base was put into lockdown so far ahead of schedule" Fariz noted.

"Yes; Redding would not have wanted me to know if the ship made it here. My guess is he sent a false message about the EFA knowing our approximate whereabouts so he could put us in lockdown before sending troops to destroy the ship, if it should turn up."

"But they weren't expecting it to take such a big detour."

"If only Harry had known who and what he was up against" Linton sighed.

"The irony is, it was Harry's fate that gave me the warning not to trust anyone" Fariz noted.

"At least something good came from his loss" the professor nodded "Excuse me Fariz; I need to see the new boss about this."

* * *

Soon after, a soft knock sounded at what used to be the professor's office door and when it was opened, a nervous looking Doctor Sarah Spencer was delighted to receive a visit from the former leader of the complex.

"I'm sorry to say I have some very disturbing news my dear?"

"And I'll be sorry to hear it" Sarah admitted "but I really need to talk to you first."

"What is it Sarah?" he asked as he sat on the couch.

"Oh... just some simple questions like; why me, why now, what were thinking and have you gone completely mad?"

"Well not completely" Linton admitted "I take it from you questions, you don't believe me when I say you are the best choice for Head of Railgun Operations."

"I could name ten better people for the job here and now."

"No you couldn't" Linton accused with a wide grin on his face "You could name ten very good people, but no one better. Do you think I just came to this decision yesterday, or picked your name out of a hat? I first started considering who would be my replacement if anything should happen to me, soon after we went into lockdown. I review my list and talk it over with Doctor Henry Deming every year, but you have been on the short list for ten years and on the top for the last four."

"But I don't know how to do what you do" Sarah protested.

"You've already done it my dear; let everyone do their jobs and coordinate when needed. Don't worry about it too much because I'll be close by for a while yet, so just guide everyone as you see fit and we can chat about your decisions any time you wish."

"I still need to know; why now when everything is changing? We've reopened the complex, there are new people here..."

"And that is precisely why my dear; I can't say I'm getting old, because I'm already old" Professor Adisa said as the Grey Heron of Stating the Obvious wandered out from behind the couch.

"But you're still very healthy and..."

"True but with the Railgun and its people here starting a new phase of operation, it is better to have you take charge from the beginning, just as I did so many years ago. As we start the rebuild and begin planning for the next round of space launches, things will go much smoother if we don't have to go through a change of leadership in the middle of it all. I can tell you most sincerely Sarah; the people here all trust you and that will help the newcomers to do likewise."

"If they decide to stay" Sarah sat heavily.

"We shall see my dear; we shall see."

* * *

After Professor Adisa had finished telling Sarah about what had happened to Harry and his team after lockdown, they both began to realise just how dangerous the people they worked for truly were.

"I need some time to think" Sarah declared.

"Yes and I need to talk to Captain Branson; I want to try and make a deal with him so he'll take me back to America."

"I'm the boss now" Sarah smirked "I may not let you go."

As he left to give her the contemplation time she needed, Linton did feel a little guilty for putting all this weight on Sarah's shoulders; even though he knew it was quite necessary for the future of the Railgun Complex and a therefore, all remaining life on Earth. At the same time, he realised it would not be a good idea to use those exact words with Sarah; she was already under too much stress.

* * *

 **I'm up to 15 readers – wow! Thanks everyone.**

 **Started another Berk comic short a few days ago with Snotlout; should be a hoot.**


	36. Chapter 36

**Hello again.**

 **With the end of the story now planned, you would not believe how many changes I've made to the next ten chapters... but since you did not know what was in them originally, you won't notice anyway, so it's a bit silly of me to mention it.**

 **Ignore what you just read.**

* * *

Chapter 36

The New Journey

Down on Earth, the new head of the Railgun Complex effectively went into hiding for the next twenty four hours; while in Mars orbit, the youngest astronaut didn't have a minute to herself. Abigail Dias had spent the last few weeks gaining much needed experience on Orbit Station maintenance as well as unloading supply ships sent up from the surface and sorting the contents into units for the MTV and units for the Orbit Station. When the MTV finally arrived, it was only twenty minutes later than expected and that's not bad after an interplanetary journey. The brake motors were applied gently to the heavy flywheel at the centre of the obit station to counter act on the direction of spin and slowly bring the station to a halt. When the operation was completed, everyone felt the weightless effects of micro gravity on the entire station, but it allowed the MTV to safely dock for equipment and supply transfer.

"One of us has got to get Luis alone and tell him what we've learned about his son" Ruth said adamantly.

"But do we tell him Sage knows already?"

"I don't know; but it's not the kind of thing you should keep secret."

"This is also the kind of news that could get us thrown out an airlock" Jarred thought "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to wonder what else Roux and Sage are keeping from the rest of us."

"Don't fool yourself into thinking it's just those two" Ruth noted "There could be ten, fifty or even a hundred colonists in on this; we'll have to tread carefully but..."

Ruth stopped talking when the airlock door started to open and much to their disappointment, the Kindermans found themselves face to face with Commander Neville Sage.

"What are you two looking so guilty about?" Sage barked.

"Sorry Commander but when I've been alone in space for so long, I lose my edge for proper discipline and protocol. Seeing you there sort of snapped us back into reality again."

"Pathetic" Sage mumbled "and your long isolation is no excuse for looking so scruffy. Go straight to your station quarters and get yourselves cleaned up; then get back here and help with supply transfer."

"Certainly sir" Jarred saluted "I just want to head down to operations and say hi to Luis... I mean Major Dias."

There was something in Jarred's voice Sage's did not like although he did not know what it was; it was probably the Ruddy Turnstone of Paranoia picking at the small hairs on the back of his neck. In the end, the Commander decided to leap right into the situation and over react.

"Negative" he barked "Follow your orders; you can catch up over tea and crumpets when your work is done."

Sage was the kind of person who did not get many cards on his birthday; very few people knew when it was and of those who did, no one cared much at all.

As the Kindermans gathered up the packages containing their personal belonging and floated off as ordered, the small bird on Sage's shoulder plucked out one of the man's ear hairs and stimulated his suspicion to extreme levels.

"Dias, this is Sage" he spoke into the Airlock to Operations Intercom "Get your gear and your kid and meet me at the MTV Airlock in ten minutes."

* * *

Down on the planet, a small convoy of Surface Exploration Vehicles (SEV) made its way slowly across the surface of Mars. Several units were fourteen meters long and were basically mobile habitats, while others carried supplies and remote controlled construction machines. They all snaked along single file along the cleared path created by Kwame Moloi and Jaden Walker over the last few weeks, and were all driven by one single person in the lead vehicle.

Maybe drive is the wrong word to use as Sierra Corbin basically sat in the control section and monitored the train of vehicles moving along behind her. As Kwame and Jaden had crawled across the planet a few weeks earlier, they had left behind small solar powered electronic transceivers every five hundred meters to mark the path for the computer controlled SEVs to follow. This meant Sierra's main task was to keep the lead vehicle on track and ensure the rest of the vehicles followed as they should.

The path they took had its literal ups and downs but it was a reasonably smooth ride thanks the work undertaken by Kwame and Jaden. Moving very slowly, Kwame's unit had removed rocks and pulverised the sharper parts of the surface while Jaden machine consisted mainly of a series of grinding barrels revolving against the direction of travel to create an almost level path. It was not a road like they had on Earth, but it did make the convoy's journey faster and safer as well as ensuring the wheels of the SEVs would enjoy a much longer life.

"Corbin to Dias; can you read me April?" Sierra called over the comms unit.

April was not expecting a report from the control section so she feared the worst as she leapt at the microphone.

"Receiving you Sierra; what's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong? I'm patching through a call from your daughter."

The communicator cracked and popped a few times until a new voice came through the speaker.

"Can you hear me Mom?" Abigail called.

"I'm reading you Abi; what's wrong?"

"Always with you there's something wrong" Abigail sniffed "Dad and I have been ordered onto the MTV at once so we may not get another chance to call before we leave. Dad asked me to let you know we're both fine, we love you and Saffy and we'll call again as soon as we can. Good luck with the new base and I gotta go; bye."

"Abi..?" April called into the microphone "Abigail!"

"Give it up Mom; she's gone" Saffron noted with a smile.

* * *

Luis Dias appeared at the airlock only two minutes after receiving the order from Sage, who of course still wasn't happy.

"Where's the..." the Commander started to say something he shouldn't but managed to catch himself in time "...the Cadet?"

"I wanted to get down here straight away so I asked her to finish a few tasks for me" Luis looked at his watch "She should be here within the time you allotted sir."

Luis hoped she would be on time, so the trip to Earth would not start on the wrong foot and he was delighted when Abigail floated into view only ninety seconds later.

"Five minutes to spare" Luis grinned "Well done Cadet."

"Indeed" Sage agreed "You two stow your gear and get to work transferring the supply pods from Earth to the station and I'll load up our supplies."

This order surprised both the Major and the Cadet; Sage was not the kind of person to do physical work when the job could be given to a subordinate.

"Would you... like me to help you sir?" Abigail risked asking in case it was some kind of test.

"No thank you Cadet; I want you to get some real life experience with the Robotic Manipulator Arm while we have the chance."

Luis felt sure Sage wasn't telling him everything about his reasons but he did not like to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth; it would indeed be good for Abigail to receive some on the job training. Later as she moved the first pod from the MTV to the Orbit Station, the young girl did her best to keep her mind on the job but sometimes it began to wander a little. Abigail could not help but contemplate what the Manipulator Arm was holding; the supply pod had come from Earth, shot into space by a Railgun and collected from orbit by her friends Ruth and Jarred. Now after a journey of almost two hundred million kilometres, it was firmly under her control and would soon be sent down to her mother on Mars for use at the second colony site.

Eleven hours later, with all the pods transferred and the MTV refuelled, Jarred and Ruth watched helplessly as the ship drifted slowly away from the orbit station and began its last trip to Earth.

"We'll just have to talk to April instead" Jarred sighed.

"Sage was worried" Ruth noted "and the way he replaced you for this trip tells me both he and Roux already knew about Adisa and the baby still being alive. The problem is we don't know who else is in on the secret so we'll have to tread carefully."

"Maybe bide our time here and volunteer to work with April at Base Two later."

"Makes sense" Ruth agreed "With Sage and Luis supposedly on the last trip to Earth, Roux should expect us to look for a new career."

"And while we're here... we could diligently monitor all communications between Earth and Mars maybe?"

"I love it when you're diligent" Ruth purred as she nibbled on his ear.

* * *

 **Finally have my first reader in my home town so I decided to check how long I have been on this site. A few years I thought so I was surprised to see I joined in 2008.**

 **NINE YEARS?! AAARRRGH!**

 **Where did the time go? I was 44 years old when I started writing. I don't plan to stop anytime soon so if the stories should suddenly stop appearing, I probably died of old age (not for a long time yet I hope).**


	37. Chapter 37

**I'm now glad I stopped writing at chapter 51 because I found a few spots that should have had some points of view from those on Mars. Getting them written now and will be in later chapters before posting.**

 **Thanks to the guest reviewer for the kind words and I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the story. Well... on with the show.**

* * *

Chapter 37

Sarah's Crazy Idea

At first the disappearance of Sarah Spencer caused some concern in the Railgun Complex, but at the end of the first day, she began calling in department heads and other specialists in groups of two or three at a time. When the first group left her new office, the next was not called in for almost an hour and so over the next few days, people were able to compare notes on what information Sarah had sought and what the topics of conversation had been. What they ended up with was like trying to make sense of a small pile of jigsaw pieces from six different puzzles.

While all this was going on underground, Blue came to his own life changing decision and moved out of the Complex. There were several reasons behind his transference to the ship and the main one was the new joy he felt walking on the beach just before sunrise and around sunset. Living on the ship was also handy because he was close to the work he was doing with Willow's new Ships Contents Relocation and Permanent Storage team, also known as SCRaPS, along with the opportunity to talk to Maximilian DeGroot whenever he felt like it.

Blue mainly sought information from DeGroot about his family, but the odd little man was more willing to share what he had learnt about the history of the Dragon Riders. Whenever Blue's head could take no more of his strange flying lizard obsession, he could leave easily without fear of DeGroot trying to follow him; the man had nervous fear of what Captain Branson would do if he pushed the boy too far.

For the people of the fleet, all the talk of leaving the planet and going to Mars sounded too unbelievable to be taken seriously, but there many other aspects about the offer to stay at the Railgun Complex that were very appealing. Fresh food was available both on the surface and in the underground farms and the accommodation was of a very high standard when compared to living on a ship. Life in the Complex was something like what they had hoped to find in Europe with the added advantage of protection from all but the biggest of meteors; even the work was reasonable thanks to the all machinery at hand.

While most of the visitors were still trying to make up their minds, some had already started to settle in and were working on the farms and in mechanical maintenance. There were even a few who seriously wanted to learn more about the possibilities of a future in sapce and sought out demonstrations of additive manufacturing and computer animations of both current abilities of supply launches and future plans for the resumption of human space flight. Fariz and a few of the other former Railgun builders took the opportunity to move back into the complex, now that the doors were permanently open again. At the same time, some of the Railgun staff took the own opportunity to move out and enjoy the surface world once again with many doing a home swap with Fariz's friends at the town to the south.

Probably the biggest change for the original inhabitants of the complex was inclusion of several children from the fleet, plus a few more young adults. Their presence made Professor Adisa realise he should be considering an education project of some kind. There was one new visitor however, who had Calla and Emerson excited and their mother Ursula worried. The Linwood children were in the outer warehouse with their father and Captain Branson greeting yet another vehicle bringing people in from the fleet, when a young lady with straight black hair alighted from the four-wheel-drive.

"DOOM!" Calla cried out when she saw her friend and rushed into her arms.

"Hey Squirt, where have you been hiding?"

"I am so glad you're here; this place is really boring."

"Calla; watch your mouth" Maynard scolded.

"I am sure you two will not be causing any trouble while we are guests here" Reed Branson declared sternly.

"Best behaviour Captain Bligh" Harriet Doom stood up straight and saluted, making Calla giggle.

"Hello Harriet" Emerson greeted her with a dopey grin.

"And you'd better watch your mouth too" Doom waved her fist in the young man's face.

"MISS DOOM!" Reed repeated.

"Best behaviour Captain" she repeated.

Harriet Doom was not really a trouble maker but she enjoy having the reputation, which annoyed Branson and worried Ursula Linwood. The sixteen year old young lady also tried not to be a bad influence on Calla, but it was hard not to be when the youngest Linwood spent so much time as her shadow.

"If you want we can ditch the old folk and head outside for a while" Calla whispered "I've got so much to tell you."

"Hey I'd love to Squirt, but I really gotta get a feel for this place; read the vibes and work out if it's the place to be."

"Bummer" Calla sighed "I suppose if you have to."

"I do" Doom smiled.

"Please keep up" Branson called out as the group walked off.

"Coming oh Glorious Leader" Doom said sweetly.

To Harriet Doom there was nothing worse than a bad leader; some were incompetent and others were vague; but then there was the virtual dictator who believed they had a right to rule. People like this could be dangerous if they felt threatened, even by a young lady and so she had created a character to play on a full time basis. If they believed she was just rude to everyone, she could subtly point out the flaws in a leader and their method of rule so others would not just follow them blindly, and without invoking any kind of malicious retaliation.

If Reed Branson knew about this, he would also know why she had followed his leadership for so long; for he had passed the test in her eyes. Harriet Doom had witnessed for herself the care Branson had taken to keep the fleet safe and the peril he had often put himself in, rather than risk someone else's life. Deep down inside she had great respect for him, but she would never dare show it openly.

"Not very attractive" Harriet declared as she rode the electric cart down yet another corridor.

No one would have guessed from the way she spoke, just how impressed she was with the manufacturing plants, the control room and the Railgun itself. But while others in the tour group had many good things to say about the complex, all praise from Doom was reserved for one of the massive underground farms.

"Now this is more like it" she nodded "Nature in a bottle!"

"It gets better" Calla smiled and called out loudly "MOON!"

Everyone except Emerson and their guide wondered what Calla was doing, but they soon found out when a large white cat with a few grey splotches wandered into view with Princess Sabrina trotting along behind swatting at Moon's twitchy tail.

"Nothing like a cat to turn an underground industrial complex into a home" Doom smirked.

"These are Blues cats" Calla noted.

"Are you seriously trying to tell me these felines are into Muddy Waters and BB King?" Doom asked suspiciously.

"Blue is the only kid our age in the entire place" Emerson informed her "Calla's been doing her level best to kill him ever since we got here; she almost succeeded a few times too."

"They were just accidents" Calla huffed.

"The first time was" Emerson admitted.

"So where is this kid with the cool name?" Harriet Doom asked "I'd love to get the opinion of someone younger about what it's like to live here."

"There's nothing cool about him" Calla sniffed "and he doesn't even live here anymore; he gone down to the beach to live on the ship."

"What ship?" Doom looked confused.

"Didn't you see it when you came ashore?" Emerson asked "It's kinda hard to miss."

"I came here by land" Doom replied "I was on the refinery ship but had to leg it on a Tug Boat when the tsunami hit. When it was over, we went ashore to check out the wrecks but later on some people arrived and said they knew your Dad. I've been at a town south of here for the last few days waiting for my turn to catch a lift here."

"It must have been horrid" Calla sneered.

"What makes you say that Squirt?" Doom tussled Call's hair "The wave was a hassle but when we got to the village, the people there were really cool and hospitable; they took great care of us and the food was good too."

Their conversation, along with the entire tour, was suddenly interrupted when the communication system came to life with the voice of Doctor Sarah Spencer.

"Attention everyone; this is your leader speaking" she began.

The visitors were a little shocked to hear Sarah's stern tone, but then they all heard her laughter echoing through the corridors.

"But seriously folks, I'd like all senior engineers and team leaders to report to the conference room at fourteen hundred hours. This means you too Willow so get your butt on the next transport back here; oh and bring Peter Moke with you. All others please hit the monitors and pay close attention. Any visitors still in the complex... well... sorry but we have to do this, so you can either stay and listen in, go for a walk or grab a bite; there are monitors in the dining room."

"For a second there, I thought she was going to kick us out" Maynard noted.

"Dad, do we have to stay here and wait for hours?" Calla complained.

"I don't think you have a choice" Maynard said "If everyone is called to this meeting, there won't be any transport out to the ship till they're done. Just show Doom the rest of the farm, play with the cats for a while and then we'll all head down to the dining room and listen in over a late lunch."

"The food here is pretty good here too" Calla nodded to Harriet Doom.

And so after killing some time, Branson and the Linwoods took Harriet Doom and the other visitors from the fleet down the dining room as planned; with a little guidance from their guide of course. Even though they had been told all about it, the visitors were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. As they settled down to eat while watching Sarah on the closed circuit TV, Calla saw Willow Pascal hurry into the dining room to grab an egg salad sandwich just as Sarah Spencer appeared on the monitor.

"It looks like we're all here" Sarah noted "except for Willow as usual."

"Yeah yeah I'm getting there" Willow yelled sternly at the monitor "Don't get your panties in a bunch."

"Well almost everyone is here so I suppose we'd better get started" Sarah decided. "Firstly I want to apologise for being incommunicado for the last few days..."

Calla wondered why Sarah had stopped so soon when she heard a door close over the monitor.

"Nice of you to join us... finally" Sarah smiled.

"Down with the new oppressive regime" everyone heard Willows reply.

"Sorry Willow but the revolution will have to wait. Now then... a few days ago, Professor Adisa threw me off the deep end with some very disturbing news about the information we've been relying on from Mars. We won't go into it now but there is a full report available for download to your tablets and I will warn you; it is very disturbing. A lot of you have allowed me to pick your brains recently and from what I've learned, I think I've got the basics of a new direction for the Railgun Project and for all of us into the future."

"The bad news is this; if what we've learnt is true, then we have to face up to the high probability that Mars is no longer an option for us. This is why I've been going through all other alternative ideas and I'm happy to say, it looks like none of you have been idle for the last fifteen years. And so rather than simply give up and stay here, I've chosen a new destination for us; a new place for us to attempt colonisation."

Not only in the conference room, but all over the complex and even on the ship, everyone leant forward a little.

"Starting today we will be working towards going to... the Asteroid Belt."

* * *

 **I honestly don't know what happened to this chapter; the last line was meant to come in about halfway through, but dialogue just kept flowing.**

 **Bye for now and more soon. =^..^=  
**


	38. Chapter 38

**Hello again. Sorry I haven't posted as much as I thought I would but the re-write got really heavy for a while (a few chapters have almost doubled in length). The next few are mainly to move the story along to the exciting bit near the end, so I hope it isn't too much of a slog (lots of birds in the first paragraph though).**

* * *

Chapter 38

Surprises For Everyone Please Barman.

Nobody in the conference room noticed, but feathers were flying only a few seconds after Sarah's announcement about the Asteroid Belt. The Barn Owl of Slow Realisation gave way to the Wood Duck of Curiosity while the Goshawk of Upheaval tried to take over the room. One poor engineer succumb to the Pilgrim Goose of Uncontrollable Laughter, but soon gave over to the Grass Finch of Embarrassment when he realised he was on his own. The Ibis of Doubt tried in vain to gain some ground, but the afore mentioned Wood Duck of Curiosity had been a strong ally of Structural Engineers ever since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.

The visitors in the dining room only had to contend with the Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise because the full impact of the new direction did not mean much to them. And so they all continued to watch while they ate, as Sarah called on some of the various people she had consulted with during her self-imposed exile. Over the next hour and a half, the basic outlines of ideas and plans for new styles of construction robots were displayed and discussed until Sarah called the meeting to an unofficial end.

"I'd like all teams to discuss amongst themselves what aspects they can best assist with and send reports to me over the next week. Outline the amount of resources and floor space you'll need and we'll work out an initial priority schedule; thank you."

Sarah stepped down from the podium and the screen went blank; only a few seconds later, Calla was all ready to move on.

"Is it okay if I take Doom to see the ship now? Willow should be headed back and we can catch a lift from her."

"Well... okay" Maynard agreed "I want to see Professor Adisa about this new plan anyway; but be back by sunset... and Emerson is in charge, understand?"

"No worries Dad" Calla grinned.

Maynard was starting to feel accustomed to the Railgun complex and now felt quite content to let his kids move around on their own, as long as he knew roughly where they were. Their guide let Emerson take the electric buggy and with only a few stops to ask for directions, they made their way to the outer warehouse in less than twenty minutes. Peter and Willow turned up a short time later and soon they were all on their way up the ramp.

"So what did you think of Sarah's idea?" Emerson asked the two in the front seat.

"We've got some work ahead of us" Peter noted.

"Yeah and I'll bet Blue is already working on a plan when we get back" Willow smiled.

"Oh come on" Calla sighed "What could he possibly come up with?"

"When Blue was your age Calla, he was working with my guys on a replacement truss unit for the MTV. Amos made a comment about the strength of the design being perfect for a space elevator if a strong enough material ever existed."

"What's a space elevator?" Emerson asked.

"In theory, it is said to be possible to string a cable from the surface of the Earth into outer space" Peter informed the back seat passengers "If it could be done, people and equipment could ride into orbit inside an elevator, doing away with the need for rockets and railguns. The only problem is it would be so massive and under such great stress, it would need to be built out of a material far stronger than anything in existence today."

"Blue came up with an interesting idea though" Willow told them "He speculated the possibility of using the same design on an large asteroid or even a dwarf planet. Then we could lift what we mine into space for collection, without having to land."

"He came up with an idea like that?" Emerson gasped.

"It gets better" Willow continued "Blue speculated we could turn an asteroid about one or two kilometres in diameter into a space colony by placing two habitats on opposite sides, on the equator and then lifting them up about ten meters at a time and attaching one of the truss units underneath. The gravity on such a small body would be so slight, it would not take much force to lift them up. When the habitats were lifted high enough, the centrifugal force of the slowly spinning asteroid would overcome the direct gravitational force holding habitats down."

"And I assume you would run one of these space elevators up and down the truss?" Doom asked.

"That was Blues plan; and the artificial centrifugal gravity created by the turning asteroid could be adjusted by changing the distance between the surface and the habitat; the longer the truss section, the stronger the gravity."

"So if you got the distance just right, the gravity would be the same as it is here" Doom smiled "Wow; this kid's pretty smart."

"I taught him everything I know" Willow boasted.

"And that is why you have so little left" Peter smirked.

Willow may have been driving, but she still tried to thump Peter in the arm.

"So what do you think of him now Calla?" Doom asked as she dug Calla with her elbow "I get the feeling you like him; hint hint."

"Hell no!" Calla protested "He's alright but he can be a real know-it-all; very annoying."

"He thinks Calla is cute" Emerson smirked and he too got a punch for his trouble.

* * *

As the vehicle made its way west, Maynard and Reed managed to catch up with Linton and Sarah in the new leader's office (formally the old leader's office).

"That was quite an interesting talk you just gave" Maynard said as Sarah blushed a little.

"You implied this is a completely new direction for you" Reed Branson noted "but everyone seems to be... how can I put this... instantly on top of the situation?"

"We haven't been sitting around doing nothing for the last fifteen years" Sarah grinned. "We've considered the possibilities of every piece of rock and ice in the entire Solar System and I decided, after Mars the standout location was the Asteroid Belt."

"But isn't it bad enough here with all the meteors falling down on us?" Maynard Linwood noted. "We'd get smashed to pieces out there."

"Contrary to popular belief and science fiction films, Asteroids do not usually spin around each other in close proximity, colliding and shattering into lethal lumps of rocky destruction. They are so far apart, if you were standing on an asteroid in the belt, you probably wouldn't be able to see another one without a good telescope."

"I'm sorry but I for one just don't understand how any of this is possible; I was finding it hard enough to consider going to Mars; at least Mars is a planet" Maynard said to general agreement from Reed.

"Don't worry about it too much for now" Sarah reassured them "I promise you will know how we'll do it and what to expect, long before the launch of the first of the construction robots and years before the first person is launched."

"How many years are we talking about here?" Maynard asked.

"Construction robots in six months to a year and people in five to ten maybe; to be honest we haven't done a schedule yet but I promise to give one of those too."

"I will hold you to both those promises" Reed declared sternly "Many of the people from the fleet have already decided to stay here but some of us still are not sure if it's a good idea to give up on Europe until we're sure what's up there."

"If you decide to go Captain, there's no reason why you can't come back later" Sarah offered "I for one would welcome any information you could provide on what you found."

"Hmm... I hadn't thought about it like that before" Reed pondered "I'd always assumed it was an all or nothing deal; I'll get back to you."

Maynard and Reed soon departed and with another heavy discussion over for now, Sarah collapsed just as heavily onto the couch.

"You did very well" Linton smiled "I knew I'd made the right decision choosing you to succeed me."

"Sorry Professor but you are not my favourite person right now" she sighed.

"Quite understandable" Linton chuckled to himself.

* * *

"Wow... that would have to be the second biggest ship I've ever seen" Harriet Doom declared.

"You've seen a bigger one?" Calla asked in surprise.

"It's a joke Squirt" Doom answered as she gave Calla a noogie on the head, but not too hard.

The vehicle drove down the beach and up the ramp where Sid and Jeana were guiding a shipping container onto the back of an articulated truck.

"You all heard Sarah's announcement?" Willow asked as she alighted from the parked vehicle.

"Yeah we did" Jeana replied "Blue is already going through the list of known asteroids, looking for a viable candidate for his Counterbalanced Station idea."

"HA!" Willow cried out "I knew it."

"I see we've got another visitor" Sid noted.

"Hey; I'm Doom" she waved.

"Are you a new resident or just checking us out?" Jeana asked.

"Neither really" Harriet Doom replied "I haven't decided to stay yet, but it's not up to me to pass judgment on you. I'm just going wherever the wind takes me; which is usually where Calla pushes me."

"Fair enough" Jeana nodded "I hope you like what you find."

What they did find was a surprise to all three of the young visitors. Peter Moke led them up the internal starboard stairway at the bow of the ship and when they reached the top, they could not believe their eyes were showing them. Most of the fleets smaller ships and yachts were now up on the deck of the ship and as they walked back to the cabins at the stern, they witnessed the gantry crane lowering one of the larger tug boats into position amongst the yachts.

"Why are our boats up here?" Emerson gasped.

"Two reasons" Peter replied "It's easier to work on them in dry dock and they're safe if another tsunami hits."

"Does Dad know the Star Runner is up here too?" Calla asked suspiciously.

"I don't think so" Peter admitted "But Sid and Amos said he asked them to replace the rigging and besides, it would only take about half an hour to get it back in the water if your Dad wanted it there."

The last time Calla and Emerson had been on the ship, they had been impressed by the work done to clean out all the rubbish inside but this time, they had to contend with clouds of mist and steam. A small team of Railgun Complex staff were halfway through cleaning out the entire superstructure of the ship with high pressure water and steam cleaners. Peter took them through a section that wasn't too wet, and as they climbed up towards the bridge, they found other groups painting, repairing windows and fitting out cabins.

"We've got so much work to do here with the cargo" Peter explained "it's easier to turn the ship into another home rather than drive back to the complex every day."

"When Blue first said he was moving down here, I thought he'd be living rough" Calla sniffed.

When they arrived on the bridge, the Linwoods noticed all the document sorting activities, had now become data processing as information was typed into tablets and laptops.

"This is where we spent our first night here on the ship, camped out in the Captain's cabin" Calla informed Doom "and if you'll follow me, I'll show you where I was when news of the tsunami came through."

Emerson had not noticed when it had happened, but Calla appeared to have taken over the task of deciding where to go and what to do.

* * *

As she led Doom through the ship, Blue was learning a few interesting things from the Book of Dragons. He had decided to give Maximilian DeGroot some of the time the strange man desired to talk about the mythical beasts. After an hour or so of looking at pictures of Gronckles and Razorwhips, along with information about the dietary needs of the domesticated Nadder, Blue thought the time had come to make a deal.

"When I first met you Mr. DeGroot, I must admit I did not know what to make of you."

"Y-yes I'm sorry about the way I acted back then... I was just so excited to have found you at last; I always knew I would someday" the man explained.

"Well I am glad you have calmed down since then and I want you to know I am very grateful for the information you've brought us about my mother, but now I have a big favour to ask of you" Blue stated.

"Oh anything for the Heir of the Dragon Riders" DeGroot smiled in an eager way that still made Blue a little nervous.

"Good... thank you; you may not like it but it is very important to me" Blue took a deep breath "My friends Doctor Spencer and Professor Adisa have asked me to consider training the people from your fleet, for a future life in space."

"I see... but I don't know how I could help you" DeGroot was a little confused.

"You may remember the Professor said he wanted your help in tracking down where you found your records... about my mother and her leaving for Mars."

"Yes but you were going to go too" DeGroot said.

"But if I stay behind to help train others..."

"Oh no no no no!" DeGroot realised what Blue was saying "If you're staying here, then so am I."

"Now wait until you hear my offer" Blue stated "I'm not completely sure whether any of this dragon stuff is true or just legend but if you agree to help my friends, I will make time for you every day so you can teach me all about the history of the Dragon Riders."

"But how long will I have before they leave?" DeGroot asked.

"I'm not sure but it will be many weeks; I will organise quarters for you near to my own and I'll ask Captain Branson to leave you alone while you're here."

"And I can teach you about the Dragon Riders every day?" DeGroot checked.

"An hour each and every day" Blue smiled.

"And if I don't agree?"

"With all I have to do, it will be very inconvenient for me to make time for you every day but if you help my friends, I promise I will; if you don't help them, I have no reason to make the effort do I?"

"I suppose you don't" DeGroot reluctantly agreed.

* * *

Emerson wished Calla would find a good spot and stop for a while, but he knew his sister would want to keep showing off all she had seen and done. The young girl only took one wrong turn on her way out to the stern, so they were soon walking out onto the shaded area underneath the Helipad. Calla was surprised to find the place was not as deserted as she had expected; Blue was sitting at a small table with Maximilian DeGroot where the two were discussing of all things, dragons.

"I don't know the plural for 'neck' so I'm not sure if the Zippleback had a neck for each head, or two heads on the one neck" DeGroot explained.

"What on Earth are you reading?" Calla asked about the ancient book with the odd writing.

"It's called the Book of Dragons and it was written by a Viking named Bork the Bold; there also notes in it written by..."

Blue looked intently at the strange scratch marks but he had no yet become fluent in reading runes.

"Err... is it Walking Fish or Fish Walker?" Blue pondered.

"It says Fishlegs" DeGroot corrected him.

"Weird name for a Viking" Calla sniffed "and if you bothered to look at the drawing in the book, you'd see the two headed dragon only has one neck."

"Look closer though" Blue held the book up "The ridges along the back of the neck seem to be holding it all together and you can see there is a separation behind the heads that suggests..."

"Don't bother" Calla dismissed him "I'm not interested in your book of fairytales."

"But I am" Doom eyes widened "Those are some of the coolest looking creatures I've ever seen."

"Err... thanks; and you are?"

"Call me Doom" the young lady held out her hand; it took Blue a few seconds before he realised and reciprocated.

"Hello I'm err... I'm Blue."

"Wow Calla; you didn't tell me he was such a babe" Harriet Doom smiled.

"WHAT?" Calla and Emerson both declared simultaneously.

* * *

 **He he he; now Emerson has an unexpected rival.**

 **Sometimes it's fun to be evil.**


	39. Chapter 39

**Easter break is a great time for two things; gardening and writing. It is easy to run the story over and over in my head when pulling a weed of trimming a hedge and when I get tired, I can sit at the computer for a while and write. After staring at the screen for half an hour, it feels good to get outside again and breathe. Tchaikovsky on the radio helps too.**

* * *

Chapter 39

Something about the Moonlight

"So where'd you get the cool book?" Doom asked "It looks really old."

"Very perceptive of you" DeGroot smiled "It's about a thousand years old."

"Wow! That paper's really stood the test of time."

"It's not really paper" DeGroot stated "It's made of..."

"Yeah yeah, who cares" Calla interrupted "We have to head back to the base soon and there is still lots to see."

"I think I may stay here tonight" Harriet Doom surprised everyone "if there is room for me somewhere."

"But... but Dad said" Calla began to no avail.

"He said you two have to go back before it gets dark, but I like to walk on the beach at sunset."

"Really?" Blue asked "Me too, I go every evening."

"But you said you needed to get the vibe of the complex" Calla continued protesting.

"And I did when you showed me around" Doom nodded "so now I'd like to get the feel for this place too. Don't worry Squirt I'll be around tomorrow."

For the very first time ever, Calla did not like it when Doom called her Squirt.

"Well I suppose we'd better find out if there's a room available for you" Blue said as he stood.

"Oh I don't mind sharing" Doom smirked as she followed Blue inside.

"Interesting" DeGroot turned to a different section of his book "There are several references to young women throwing themselves at the Dragon Master, but he only had eyes for the Astrid the Fair and Frightening. It looks like Blue is a chip off the old block; I hope it means he can also easily bond with the dragons."

"What just happened?" Emerson wondered with his heart in his mouth.

"I'll tell you what just happened" Calla steamed "that little jerk just stole my best friend."

"To be fair, I think you friend stole him" DeGroot noted.

"Oh shut up!" Calla ordered as she stormed off.

There were many cleaned out cabins on the ship but the only furnished ones were taken. Calla thought luck was going her way again until Willow offered to give Doom a couch for the night in her room. Blue spent the next half hour showing the others some more of the lower decks where even Calla and Emerson had not been before.

"What's in that one?" The four friends were high on an overhead walkway just below the deck when Doom asked her question about one of the thousands of shipping containers.

As Blue tried to make out the label on the container she had pointed at, Calla noticed a familiar steel rectangle above her.

"It looks like this one only has raw materials for print manufacturing" Blue revealed.

"Rats I was hoping it would have a rocket motor or one of those lifting bodies you mentioned before" Doom sighed.

"Yeah most of them only have ordinary boring stuff inside 'em" Blue admitted.

"Have a look up there" Calla pointed "There's one of the false tanks we found when we first explored the ship."

"False Tank?" Doom asked.

"Yeah; when we looked below deck to see what was here, we found these tanks full of water" Calla explained "But we knew the ship would be lower in the sea if the tanks were full, so we investigated and found the tanks were fake and only a few feet deep; then we knew something was hidden down here."

"Very clever Calla" Doom nodded with a smile.

"Of course when Calla says 'We', she means Dad" Emerson admitted and received a kick in the shin from his sister.

They continued on their way but had only gone a few steps when the communicator on Blue's belt chimed cheerfully.

"I'm sending Amos back to base in half an hour; so anyone who wants a lift better meet him at the top of the ramp" Willow informed Blue.

"I didn't realise it was getting so late" Blue noted as he lead the way forward.

Fifteen minutes later, they all walked down the last steps to the lower bow and found Amos receiving his final instructions from Willow.

"Make sure Sarah gets me a comprehensive list from all Department Heads spelling out what they need back at base and what needs to be held in reserve; and tell them to prioritise everything so I know what to send first."

"No worries Boss" Amos nodded before greeting the new arrivals.

"Won't be long before we go" he said "I just need to wait for Sid; he got some gear he wants me to repair back at base."

No sooner had Blue acknowledged Amos, when Doom grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the ramp. No one knew it yet but Doom had a plan; and part of that plan was not to let Calla and Emerson leave without seeing her walk off with Blue.

"The sun will be setting soon" she noted "so we'd better get going if we're going to walk on the beach before it gets dark."

"Um uh okay then; bye everyone" Blue wasn't sure exactly what was going on.

"See you tomorrow Squirt" Doom waved as she walked away.

"Yeah maybe" Calla mumbled.

"What just happened?" Emerson asked again.

It looked to Willow as if steam was about to shoot out of Calla's ears as Doom and Blue wandered down the ramp and along the sand. She smiled to herself as she considered the possibility of jealousy paying a little visit.

* * *

"So... do you do this often?" Harriet asked a few minutes later.

"I told you before, I go walking along the beach every evening" Blue answered.

"I mean with pretty young girls."

"First time actually" Blue admitted "No offence but I usually like to be alone with my thoughts."

"A bit of a romantic huh?"

"I err... I'm not sure what you mean."

"Soft light in the sky, deep thoughts of universal contemplation, letting the aura of the world just wash over you..."

"It's just a good time to sort myself out" Blue revealed "Everything's changing so fast, I sometimes have hard time processing it all."

"Life is not for processing" Harriet declared "it's for absorbing."

"And you've been absorbing it all for years, whereas I've only had a few weeks; believe me, it takes some processing."

"I can sense a lot of conflict in you" Harriet Doom noted "and my spiritual insight tells me you fear what the future is bringing."

"When life changes, it is natural to feel concern about the best road to take; and you're just using my current uncertainty to manipulate the way I think about you by making yourself appear exceedingly wise, when you're actually just making it up as you go along."

Blue expected a violent reaction to his accusation, but was more than a little surprised when his companion just laughed.

"I don't know why Calla is so down on you" Harriet took Blues arm "I think you're cool."

"What are you doing? Blue asked with surprise.

"Relax kid; I'm just helping you out with your love life... and hopefully bringing immense alterations to mine."

"But I don't want help with my love life, whatever that is, and I thought you had a thing for Emerson" Blue was even more confused thanks the Rockhopper Penguin trying to trip him over (not an easy thing to do with flat webbed feet).

"Emerson thinks I've got a thing for Emerson, but he's gonna have to do a lot better than longing looks and witty banter to get my attention; and that's all he seems to know. You see Blue, Emerson is nice and there are many times when a man should be nice to a girl, but sometimes she needs a guy to be a little more... assertive."

"Have you bothered to tell him he should be more assertive?" Blue sneered.

"It doesn't work that way kid; as you said before, I have to manipulate the way he thinks about me."

"And you're doing this manipulating now by holding my arm?" Blue checked to see if he understood.

"Yup!" Miss Doom smirked.

"But Emerson doesn't even know you're walking so close to me."

"He will... when Calla tells him" Harriet smiled "or didn't you realise she's been pretending not to spy on us ever since we left the ship?"

"I thought I was just being paranoid" Blue stated.

"Your powers are getting stronger young Padawan."

"Pada-what?"

"Never mind" Harriet Doom smiled.

"So why is Calla spying on us anyway?"

"I'm sure she would say it's because you are monopolising her best friends time" Doom explained.

"Oh I see; that makes sense" Blue nodded.

"But it's actually because she likes you... a lot."

The Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise and the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock had a quick round of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock; and the Magpie won.

"WHAT? Oh no, no, no; she barely tolerates me."

"Yeah I know the way she treats you, but whenever she and I were talking today, your name seemed to come up over and over" Doom explained "Blue said this, Blue did that... Calla is not a child any more but her attitude still need to mature somewhat."

"Wha... what should I do?" Blue stammered.

"That depends on whether you want her to like you or not."

"I... I don't know, well... I don't want her to hate me but I... I'm not sure how I feel; you and Calla are the only girls close to my age I've ever met."

"Calm down, breath deep and do nothing" Doom advised "I guess I was wrong; you do need to process life."

The sound of a diesel engine starting up drifted down the beach and soon the four-wheel-drive left the ship and headed back to base.

"You can relax now; nobody is watching us any more so we can change the subject if you like."

"Okay... good... yeah, oh... and you've let go of my arm" Blue sounded disappointed "It's funny really; I didn't realise how much I liked it until you stopped holding it."

"Calla mentioned you tend to be quite blunt" Doom giggled.

"Yeah I'm starting to get the feeling there are certain thoughts I should not voice" Blue admitted "I've never had to watch what I've said to such a high degree before."

"On one hand it's kind of refreshing not to have to keep guessing about you, but on the other hand..."

"On the other hand I shouldn't talk so much" Blue agreed "So how about I let you do all the talking for a while?"

"Ah... but what about?"

"Let's start with your name" Blue decided "I've never heard the name Doom before, even in literature; is it European?"

"You have got to be kidding me; you've never heard the word doom before?"

"The word yes and I've even played the old computer game, but never as a person's name; I'm guessing it's Scandinavian."

"Actually it's a keyboard player" Doom admitted.

Even the Penguin was looking confused and so the young lady decided to stop torturing Blue and explain.

"You are the first person I've met who really doesn't get it, so I will break with tradition and tell you what no one else knows" Doom looked comically serious "So you'd better not blab about it to anyone; especially not Calla."

"I... I swear" Blue stuttered.

"My real name isn't Harriet Doom and I'm originally from a settlement near Meiss Lake in northern California" she revealed.

Harriet stopped walking as she suddenly realised the gravity of what she was about to reveal. It was not easy to talk about, but she had held it in for too long. Feeling unable to tell those close to her, Harriet knew if she missed this chance to talk to a stranger like Blue, another opportunity may never come along; and so with the light slowly fading, Harriet Doom began to tell Blue her story.

* * *

 **Speaking of Tchaikovsky, I once learnt that the ballet dress known as the Tutu was named after the French slang term for tiny bottom. At first this was just an interesting piece of trivia, until the day I was looking through the anime dvd shelves at my local library. I came across one called Princess Tutu and everyone nearby wondered why I started laughing.**


	40. Chapter 40

**I just lost my phone somewhere in the house today and started mumbling to myself as I searched for it.**

" **Is it in the room of the bath, or could I have left it on the machine for the washing of the clothes?"**

 **It was then I stop and wondered why I was talking this way, when I realised something; it was time to stop watching Teen Titans Go because I was starting to talk like Starfire.**

* * *

Chapter 40

I'm Going to Sing the Doom Song Now

"There were a few hundred of us settled near Meiss Lake" Doom started her tale. "The cities were such a mess, so it was better to find a place where you could catch and grow your own food instead. I was the middle child of five and like most little kids, I never knew how good my life really was, even though there were always chores to do. Whenever I got the chance though, I'd sneak off to visit this old couple who were really into music. Their names were Louis and Nina King and they had all sorts of wonderful things in their house for either making music or listening to it and I got to play with them all."

The sun had almost touched the horizon and so Harriet Doom sat down in the sand and watched the sky as it glowed a brilliant orange.

"My favourite was turntable that would play black vinyl discs, but they also had magnetic tape players of all shapes and sizes, and small electronic devices that could hold hundreds of hours of sound on them. Louis not only let me listen to music on all these things, but he also taught me how to build and fix them."

"They sound like nice people" Blue smiled.

"They were" Harriet sighed "Nina was amazing on the guitar and she had a voice like an angel."

"Were?" Blue asked "Did something happen to them?"

He noticed a tear run down Harriet's face as she continued.

"Sometimes they would go travelling in an old horse drawn Gipsy Wagon. They'd be gone for weeks but when they returned, they would always have a few more instruments or music recordings... but one day... they just never came back."

Harriet Doom swallowed and her lips began to quiver, so Blue reached out and held her hand.

"I was only eight years old at the time, but I was determined to find them. So after they'd been missing for two months, I packed some food and water in a backpack and snuck out of the house just before sunrise. I set off in the same direction Louis and Nina had taken and I had walked for about half a day when..."

Blue wasn't sure why Doom had stopped again but he thought it was best to give her the time she needed.

"Sorry... but I haven't even thought about those days for so long... and it hurts to bring it up."

"So you... found them... Louis and Nina?"

"No; I saw my shadow" Doom revealed "and it was moving... sweeping across the ground and I knew it meant something big was entering the atmosphere behind me. The road I was on ran between the lake and the high country so I hurried to a nearby rock face and threw myself down. The explosion was greater than anything I'd ever know; trees were ripped out of the ground, the air turned to fire and I would have been killed on the spot if not for the avalanche."

"You were almost killed by an avalanche?" Blue asked.

"Believe it or not, I was saved by one" Doom tried to laugh " when the biggest boulders hit the ground, they couldn't get to me as I lay in the corner of the rock face overhang; but I was still half buried and that was what protected me. At first I was surprised to find I was still alive and if I'd known what I was going to find when I dug myself out, I probably would have stayed where I was."

Doom dropped her head and sighed.

"Are you sure you want to go on" Blue asked.

"I have to get this out" she replied "I've been holding it in for far too long."

Doom raised her head again and took two deep breaths before continuing.

"I tried to run back home but after an hour, I realised it was simply not worth going on. The closer I got to our settlement, the worse it was and I had to face up to the facts; home was gone, the settlement was gone and all the people in it were... gone."

Doom lay back on the sand and stared up as the first of the stars appeared in the fading sky.

"After that I just walked away, still hoping to find Louis and Nina of course but I never did; so I just kept going west, trying to find another settlement or town."

"I must have been hard" Blue noted "Did you survive?"

"I... wha..."

It took Doom a second or two to realise precisely what Blue had said; she looked at him in surprise and saw from his face, he was trying to cheer her up.

"No; I died only one mile from the main highway when I was attacked and eaten by rampaging mob of bloodthirsty Hamsters" she declared.

"Yeah you gotta watch out for those Hamsters" Blue agreed "horrible vicious creatures."

"Idiot" Doom smiled and pushed Blue over in the sand.

As he picked himself up again, Doom stood and began to wander back towards the ship; she continued her story when Blue had caught up.

"Having lost everyone at the same time, all my family and friends, I guess I must have been in shock for longest time. Eventually I did reach the main highway..."

"After escaping the Hamsters" Blue interrupted.

"Precisely; I found another little farming community a few days later, which was good because I'd run out of food the day before. When the people there found out where I was from and what had happened, they fed me and let me stay. I tried at first to just slip back into my old life in a new place with a new family and new neighbours, but after only a month... I started to feel scared. If I really did settle in and make new friends, I felt sure I would lose them all the same way and I knew I just couldn't live like that. So I packed up my gear and snuck off again one night."

"Where did you go next?" Blue asked.

Doom smiled and gave a little chuckle.

"Here; although it took me eight years to do so. I just went from place to place not willing to settle. I used what Louis had taught me about fixing electronic stuff and found even at such a young age, my skills were always in demand so I could get food or a bed without being a freeloader" Doom nodded.

"So do you think you'll be able to stay here?"

"It's a bit too soon to tell, but we'll see."

"So why did you adopt the name Doom and why don't you like using the name Harriet?" Blue wondered.

"Amongst the wide variety of music Nina loved to listen too, was a kind of punk jazz metal band called Surging Aquatic Death; they had this guy who played the B3 with stage name Doom; it seemed to suit me."

"So what's your real name?" Blue asked.

"This is for your ears only; promise?"

"I promise" Blue solemnly held up his hand.

"It's Harriet Ingerman" she admitted for the first time in eight years.

"Ingerman" Blue thought out loud "I know that name from somewhere."

* * *

There was no doubt about it; Ursula Linwood was enjoying herself, even though the rooms her family had been using inside the complex could have been a little bit bigger. With only two bedrooms Emerson was sleeping in a separate single unit fifty meters away, but it was wonderful to have the family together again for a while and not to have to contend with rolling on the ocean. But as they ate their breakfast the next morning though, even a good night's sleep and fresh food had not improved the mood of her offspring. They were both just as sullen and grumpy as they had been when they had arrived back the previous evening.

"I don't know if you've got plans for today but you father and I are going to help out inside the base today to get a better idea of what it would be like if we decided to stay here. This morning I'll be working in one of the farms and your Dad will be helping with transporting supplies from the ship, and then after lunch we'll swap over."

"I'm going with Dad" Calla blurted out when she heard where he was going.

"What about you Emerson?" Mom asked the melancholy young man.

"Oh... I think I'll just look around here some more" he sighed "and see if I can find something interesting to do."

"Have you just given up?" Calla accused her brother "I thought you liked Doom."

"Did something happen with MIss Doom yesterday?" Ursula asked.

"Oh she's got the hots for Mr. Smartypants" Calla huffed.

"I warned you to be more direct and open with her" Ursula said in a real I-told-you-so manner.

"Give a rest Mom" Emerson hissed and stormed out of the room.

"Idiot" Calla mumbled and received a verbal scolding from her mother.

The corridor echoed to the sound of Emerson's footsteps as people moved out of his way. He needed to take his mind off of what had happened on the ship the day before but he had no idea how to do so. Before life had blown up in his face, Emerson had planned to talk to Blue about the Spacecraft Simulator and other things involving cool machines, but now he would go miles out of his way just to avoid seeing that kids face.

Emerson saw many busy people as he wandered around, but none of them appeared to be doing anything interesting. His luck changed however when he walked into one of the huge warehouses near the Railgun itself and found several engineers, a few designers and a scientist pouring over five incredible looking robots. The smallest one was the size of a refrigerator and the biggest was the size of one of the four-wheel-drives.

Even though he wanted to know what they were doing, Emerson just stood back and watched, hoping no one would tell him to go away. Eventually someone noticed him standing there and so, as they had been ordered to by Professor Adisa back when the visitors had first arrived, they showed the young man some unexpected hospitality.

"You can come and have a closer look if you like" the leader offered.

"Oh I wouldn't want to get in the way" Emerson shook his head.

"If you were in the way, we'd let you know."

Emerson decided not to turn down the offer again as he walked over.

"Cool looking machines" he noted.

"Cool indeed" one of them agreed "Over thirty years ago, hundreds of Robots like these were sent to Mars to start construction of the colony."

"Now we have to re-design them to operate in micro gravity" another added.

"So it's off with the old wheels and tracks and on with manoeuvring thrusters and grasping claw legs" said a third.

"Feel free to stay and watch unless it gets too boring for you" the first one offered and Emerson decided it was too good an offer to pass up; cool machines and no Blue.

Calla meanwhile found herself under the influence of the dreaded Pink-headed Fruit Dove of Frustration. She had assumed her father would just jump into a vehicle and head off to the ship, but she instead found herself standing around waiting for over an hour while Maynard and the people he was working with measured the floor area of a future manufacturing plant. After discussing the merits of several different layouts, they all finally agreed on the best one and left for the ramp garage. Soon they were on their way to the beach in a disgustingly slow truck which only worsened Callas bad mood.

To make loading easier, the driver decided to reverse the truck up the bow ramp at a slow crawl so before anyone could stop her, Calla had thrown open the passengers door and jumped out onto the sand. She knew her father would punish her for doing such a dangerous thing, but she had waited long enough and could deal with him later. Calla ran up the ramp and found Jeana Davey retrieving the container next needed back at base.

"Have you seen Doom today?" she puffed.

"No I haven't sorry" Jeana answered as she reached for the communicator on her belt "Maybe Blue knows where she is; they spent a lot of time together last evening."

Those were words Calla did not want to hear although she would never admit it; the next words she heard didn't fill her with joy either.

"Jeana to Blue; can you hear me, over."

"Yes Jeana, go ahead, over."

"Do you know where Calla's friend Doom is? Over."

"Yeah, she's sitting right next to me; over."

"And where are you? Over."

"In my cabin; over."

"Thanks Blue; Jeana out. There you go Calla, she's..."

But by the time Jeana had replaced the communicator and turned back to Calla, the young girl had run off and the only sign of her presence, was the sound of footsteps on metal stairs echoing throughout the hull.

"Somebody's jealous" Jeana sang to herself.

* * *

 **I'd often thought there was not enough back story to many of the characters but didn't want to bog everything down with lots of tragedy every few chapters. Miss Doom gave a quick opportunity to show the uncertainty of life on this future Earth in half a chapter. It also reminds me of an interesting observation I once heard about the risk from meteors.**

 **The real reason why the dinosaurs are extinct, is because they did not have a space program.**

 **Deep.**


	41. Chapter 41

**Sorry this chapter took so long; I've run into some trouble and haven't been able to write for the last week. The time away did give me a chance to tweak a few ideas for the later part of the story, so it wasn't a total loss.**

* * *

Chapter 41

The Gentle Art of Jumping to Conclusions

Calla had not completely gotten her breath back after running up the ramp and so the steps up to the deck almost wore her out. She stopped as soon as she reached the deck and took a few deep breaths before running down the starboard side of the ship to the stern. When she finally reached the superstructure, Calla suddenly realised she did not know which of the many rooms was Blues.

"Hey; where's Blue's cabin" she barked at an approaching woman.

"Two decks up and near the port stern" she replied "I'm not sure what the cabin number is though."

"Thanks heaps" Calla declared slightly sarcastically, even though the lady had given her excellent directions.

She sprinted off once more with her head spinning from lack of oxygen; she really should have taken the chance to catch her breath, but desperation was beginning to take over. Calla's problem was she always pictured everything going her way in life. She imagined herself in the future as a rugged hero, wise and strong, answering the call to lead the people because it was her destiny. Now everything seemed to be falling apart all around her and it was all because of Blue.

He was smart, but that wasn't the problem; oh no. The real problem was he didn't have to prove it because everyone already knew he was smart; and what was worse, even highly trained and experienced adults respected his ideas and opinions. It was simply outrageous.

Calla began to imagine all the things she did not want in life, and she feared it was all starting to happen here and now. Doom, the coolest person she had ever known, was falling under Blues magnetic spell and the rest of her family and friends would not be far behind. She saw a strange future where Blue and Doom led everyone on to a bright new future in space while she and Emerson stayed behind with all the people deemed not good to go. Her imagination was really was starting to go off the deep end.

Calla knew she had finally found the cabin she sought when she heard Doom's familiar laugh a few doors in front of her.

"Oh hi Calla" Harriet Doom smiled as her friend burst in through the open doorway.

But Calla wasn't looking at Doom; she was staring with venom in her eyes at the boy sitting next to her.

"What are you doing with..."

It only took a few seconds for her mind to take in the scene presented to her. When Calla had heard the word 'cabin', she had assumed it would be like those she had known on the One and All; small and cosy with a cupboard and a bed. Little did she know, this entire ship had been designed not only to transport a massive amount of equipment halfway around the world, but to then become a combination home and factory during the expansion of the Railgun. This was why the first room in Blues new home was a sitting room with a kitchenette on the side. In this sitting room, Blue and Doom were sitting (makes sense to me) on the couch holding the Book of Dragons while Maximilian DeGroot explained some of its contents to the young people opposite him.

"...doing with... that... silly ol' book?" Calla completed her sentence.

"We've discovered something very interesting" Blue noted.

"You won't believe this Calla" Doom grinned excitedly "but I'm a Dragon Rider too!"

"Well... not exactly" DeGroot corrected "you're a descendant of the Ingerman clan; just like Blue is one of the Horrendous Haddocks."

"Horrendous is right" Calla mumbled with disappointment in her voice "I... I'm so happy for you."

Calla's mood did not slip by her old friend un-noticed, and so Doom decided not to ignore the situation.

"I don't know about you guys, but I could use a break" she stood up and stretched "and I also want to catch up with Calla for a while now she's here."

"Yeah and I should get back to work too" Blue admitted as he gave DeGroot the Book of Dragons.

Everything seemed civil and pleasant as the four departed but very little was said as Doom and Calla walked down to the ships galley. Just like all the other areas on the ship Calla had seen before, the kitchen was quite unrecognisable as the stripped out mess it had been when the crew of the Star Runner had first arrived. It was now clean, well stocked and staffed by two very busy cooks preparing lunch for those on board.

The girls filled their water flasks before making their way back to the stern and the shady little spot one deck below the helipad. The wind was quite mild and provided a pleasant breeze off of the ocean to cool the friends as they chatted.

"I get a very strong feeling you do not approve of my new friendship with Blue" Doom said casually.

"It's none of my business if you want to throw yourself at him" Calla declared.

An unseen smirk formed on Doom's face as she decided to boost Calla's ego while seeing how deep a hole her young friend could dig for herself."

"True... it is none of your business, but I still value your opinion" the older girl declared.

"My opinion is you can do so much better than him."

"Better... really? Doom's eyes widened "You want to tell me how many guys you've met recently who can fly a spacecraft, work in the field of electrical and structural engineering and could design a system for turning an asteroid into a space station? I'm beginning to wonder if your standards are a little too high."

"Yeah... okay... maybe, but he can be so annoying sometimes; he's such a know-it-all... and he's younger than you."

"Only a few months" Doom protested "You're talking as if he was only six years old; also you may find his intelligence annoying, but I like it. You may have heard the term 'Opposites Attract', well that is why I've enjoyed our friendship since we met, because you too are really smart and you've got all these survival skills, while I'm more the artistic type. I think it's the same with Blue; we complement each other with our differences whereas you and he are too similar."

"Don't be silly, I'm nothing like him."

"So you are opposites too? That must be why he likes you" Doom smirked.

"Now I know you're crazy" Calla huffed "he's always looking down on me."

"Only because you're so short" Doom snickered "but this morning I was having breakfast with Willow, when Blue joined us we had a very interesting conversation."

The Ruddy Turnstone of Paranoia flew down and nestled on the stern railing.

"You talked about me behind my back?" Calla was mortified.

"We talked about lots of things" Doom defended herself "but when it came to what it was like for Blue with all the new people around here, he said something very interesting about you and Emerson."

"What did he say about us" Calla asked as the Wood Duck of Curiosity and the Ibis of Doubt agreed to work on her together as a joint project.

"He said Emerson had so many questions about anything and everything, whereas he noticed you would listen and really think about what you were presented with before asking. He was really impressed by the way you would analyse something even if you had never seen it before."

"He... really said that?" Calla almost refused to believe.

"If you give him a chance, I think you could learn a lot from him because you may have noticed, he loves to talk about all that techy, sciency stuff" Doom noted.

Calla was silent for a moment as she considered what her friend had revealed, till Doom decided to push her a little further.

"So do you still think I could do better than Blue in this place?" Doom asked.

"What about Emerson? He's almost as smart as me and he really likes you."

Doom had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at Calla's declaration about her brother; she just had to use the words 'Almost as smart' because sometimes Calla's ego knew no boundaries.

"Yes Emerson is okay I guess, but he's never shown much interest in me" Doom declared.

"Are you kidding" Calla said a little too loudly "Emerson adores you."

"Well you'd never know it; we've known each other for well over a year and he's never tried to kiss me, never held my hand and certainly never taken me for a romantic walk along the beach at sunset."

"He's just a little shy" even Calla was surprised at the way she defended her brother (as was the Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise).

"Sorry Calla but I'm not waiting for Emerson to get his act together any longer" Doom insisted "and you have to admit; Heir to the Dragon Riders is a pretty cool title."

"Oh come on" Calla huffed "Do you really believe all this nonsense about Dragons and Vikings?"

"To be honest Calla, no I don't."

"So what's so great about..." the young girl began but was cut off.

"Listen to me very closely Calla; do I believe Dragons once flew in our skies? No I don't. Do I believe these people can really build colonies in space and get us off the planet? No I don't!"

"Then why would you want to stay here?"

"Do I believe we'll really find a better life with a higher chance of survival in the northern hemisphere? I most certainly do not, but I also don't want to just sit down and wait to die, and this place seems to have everything we need; relative safety and genuine hope for the future."

They both stopped talking for a minute while Calla let everything Doom had said sink in. The younger girl had put so much faith in her Father and Captain Branson's ability to find a safer place on Earth and she was beginning to have the same faith in Sarah Spencer and her team of highly intelligent, overqualified oddballs. To hear Doom say she was only going along for the ride because there was nothing better to do was a bit of a shock, but not quite enough for a visit from the Magpie.

"D'ya know what I think?" Doom said at last "I think you don't want me to, as you said before, throw myself at Blue because you like the idea of him being attracted to you."

"I told you I wasn't interested in him" Calla insisted.

"Yeah I don't believe that either but even if it were true, I still say you delight in being admired and I think you're afraid he'll stop eyeing you if he and I become a couple."

"Ha; you could not be further off the mark" Calla scoffed.

"Okay then; if you say so" Doom smirked "but I think you should know Blue offered to let me join with the others from our fleet who want to learn how to operate the spacecraft simulator and I think you should too."

"So he can make fun of me over what happened last time? No thank you."

"What are you talking about?" Doom wondered "Have you already tried the simulator?"

"Didn't Blue tell you about it?" Calla asked.

"No he didn't" Doom's eyes suddenly brightened when Calla's cheeks turned pink "What did you do Squirt?"

Now Calla knew she had truly put her foot squarely in her mouth; she didn't want to admit what had happened but she also knew Doom would not let it go until her friend owned up.

"He err... showed it to Emerson and me and I err... was a bit loose with the controls and... he got hurt" Calla admitted at last.

"And you thought he'd be telling everyone and they'd all laugh at you" Doom smirked "I probably would have blabbed about it and I know you would if it had been Emerson who stuffed up, but not Blue. So come on Calla; let's learn how to fly a spaceship together."

Although she had tried her best, Doom had not really succeeded in getting Calla to admit Blue wasn't as bad as the young girl thought, but she had found a way to get the two of them in the same room for a while, where they would be working together and not making awkward conversation. Doom hoped this would give Blue and Calla a chance to really get to know each other; she also hoped it would not end in another life threatening injury.

The girls then made their way back to the bow where Calla's father continued his work with the Railgun Complex engineering team. On their way down the steps though, they were sidetracked when Blue called out to them from the portside walkway.

"Have a look in there" he told the girls when they had climbed up to him.

Blue was pointing across the top of the shipping containers to a strange white blob inside a metal frame. The odd thing had a bulbous nose but was much flatter across the rear except for a two meter circle in the rear centre.

"What is it?" Doom asked, unable to make any sense of it.

"Underneath all that covering, is a 100% genuine space plane called a Dream Chaser" Blue informed them "You seemed disappointed when we didn't see one when you first arrived so I checked the manifests and worked out where we could find one."

"It doesn't look like the simulator" Calla noted.

"You're right" Blue smiled "The simulator is a mix of three different spacecraft but the flight deck controls can be put in the same configuration as the Dream Chaser."

"Cool; so when do we start?" Doom asked expectantly.

"You two are in Class One which starts tomorrow at 10am, but you will need to get outfitted before then so I'd suggest you check in with the Supply Department when you get back to base."

"Wait a minute" Calla protested "Who said I was going to take part in this little training course of yours?"

"Err... she did" Blue gestured to Doom "She said it would be easier to have her best friend in the class with her."

"Oh really?" Calla smirked.

"And I still haven't learnt to keep my mouth shut" Blue's eyes widened.

"Don't worry about it kid" Doom smiled "I'm just glad you didn't mention what I said about the way she smells."

"I DON'T SMELL!" Calla declared.

"And Doom never said you did" Blue noted "I believe it was some kind joke."

"We'll be ready for training first thing tomorrow" Doom cried out as she dragged Calla back to the bow again.

* * *

As the two young women prepared to learn the complex methods of controlling a small spacecraft, another girl was performing a vital manoeuvre on a much bigger ship halfway between Earth and Mars.

The VASIMR Plasma motors on the Mars Transfer Vehicle were gradually powered down for the first time since leaving Mars orbit and now the time had come to start slowing down. Abigail Dias set the manoeuvring thrusters control to minimum sensitivity before switching the unit over to manual. Under the watchful eye of her father and Commander Sage, she prepared to turn the ship 180 degrees on the pitch angle.

"Ready to go Sirs" she reported.

"In your own time Cadet" Luis answered.

With the control sensitivity set so low, Abigail could have pulled the joystick back fully without any risk, but showing complete control over the situation was what she needed to demonstrate and so she pulled the lever partially back and held the pressure from the thrusters at a steady 20% for five seconds. Like the second hand on a giant invisible clock, the nose of the MTV pitched slowly up and back in a smooth arc at one decree per second. Abigail kept a close eye on the clock, as well as the attitude indicator and when two minutes and fifty five seconds had passed, she eased the joystick forward for five more seconds.

"Manoeuvre complete" Abigail declared as she checked the computer screen "all numbers correct, ship is aligned."

"Bringing main engines on line" Luis added.

The Mars Transfer Vehicle was now moving backwards through interplanetary space at about two hundred thousand kilometres per hour; and after spending half their journey under constant acceleration, the crew of the MTV would now spend the second half decelerating. Satisfied that all had gone well, Sage unbuckled his seat restraints and floated towards the rear hatch.

"Three minutes would have to be the slowest Reversal Manoeuvre I've ever seen but as control is the most important aspect, I have to say well done Cadet" Sage admitted.

"Thank you sir" Abigail smiled as she re-checked the computer readout to be sure it was set to Automatic Station Keeping.

"Very proud of you" Luis whispered as he too left his seat.

As happy as she was right now, Abigail Dias could not help feeling a little sad; she had worked so hard to get where she was and this would probably be her one and only trip through space.

"Oh well" she mumbled to herself "At least I got to go on this ride."

* * *

 **The word 'Average' can be pretty deceiving sometimes. True you can come up with averages that make sense, like the height of the average 12 year old child. It is both easy to work out (even if it does take a long time to gather the data) and is also relevant to anyone with a 12 year old child. Consider this though; I just read the average person spends 6 months of their lifetime waiting on a red light to turn green, but when you realise much of the world's population doesn't even drive, or live where there are little to no traffic lights, some people who drive a lot in big cities could spend many years at red lights.**

 **The average that annoys me the most though, is one I heard in the late 1980s when an economist added of the cash reserves of every country in the world and divided it by the world's total population. He came to the conclusion that the average person has 30 million American dollars.**


	42. Chapter 42

**Ah it's good to have the computer back again but during my week off, the planed end of the story changed a little and so there will be another ten-ish chapters more than originally planned, bringing the total to near seventy.**

* * *

Chapter 42

Beware the Flying Fools

Calla felt slightly apprehensive as she and Doom entered the simulator room the next morning. She did however like the look of her new blue and yellow flight suit, even if it was a little big. The people in supply had taken some measurements and told her to return later in the day for a better fitting outfit, but for now she would just have to roll up her cuffs a little. There were three others from the fleet already in the room and they too wore the new outfits. She did recognise all the faces from the fleet, even though she did not know the people's names. Two things stood out for her though; the first was the others were all in their mid twenties to early forties making her the youngest, and the second thing was nobody but Calla had a white band sewn onto their upper sleeve. Was this just an oversight or did the different uniform mean something?

"Thanks for coming everyone" Blue announced as he walked in a few minutes late.

The new instructor turned on the four large red power switches on the right side of the door; he and Calla were the only ones who did not jump back in surprise when the strange white spider in the centre of the room suddenly moved.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting, I was trying to get us some more equipment to use in future lessons; but for today we will just be looking over this impressive machine and discussing some basics. The last time I took someone up in a simulated flight, things did not go quite according to plan."

"Here we go" Calla sighed as she prepared to be mocked.

"I didn't take into account the different ways a Spaceship moves and reacts in comparison to the way an ocean going vessel would" Blue admitted "My error could have caused much greater injury than it actually did, but I promise you all I'll do much better this time."

Calla felt Doom's elbow dig her in the ribs.

"Still think you can't trust him?" she whispered.

"Now only two people in training have ever been inside this little beast before; Calla and Emerson Linwood to be precise and Calla is the only one in this class. Sorry for not clearing this with you earlier Cal but I'm hoping you can help anyone who has trouble with things like Airlock Door operation and Seat Restraints."

"Err... sure" Calla nodded.

"Good" Blue smiled "Now today is just going to be some simple familiarisation ending with a short demonstration of the simulator itself. This should give everyone a small taste of the difficulties of living and working in space and help you all to decide if you wish to proceed with training or not. I would also like you to give your impressions about the class to your friends and family, so they too will have a better idea about what we are planning for the future."

Blue spent the next half hour explaining many aspects of the simulator and the various spacecraft the students could learn to operate with it. When they all stepped inside it at last, Calla noticed some changes had been made; the control panel was a little different from the last time she had seen it, the overhead cupola was covered over and there were now seven seats inside instead of four. Although she considered asking about the differences, Calla did not want to appear ignorant so she pretended all was as it she expected it to be; fortunately she soon had her question answered anyway.

"This is the configuration for our version of the Dream Chaser, we hope will take some of you into orbit someday soon; so if you will all take a seat, I'll give you a first taste of what to expect."

Blue and Calla helped everyone get seated in the cramped cabin before making sure they were strapped in. The artificial trip into space was also a little different to Calla's last experience; instead of a rocket launch, the hopeful travellers were shown what they would see being shot from a Railgun cannon from the top of a mountain, followed by a brief orbital trip and Space Station docking. They all found the experience most enjoyable and fascinating, even though one needed to hold tightly to a sick bag because of the odd and often unexpected motion; he didn't use, it but they all felt pleased it was handy just in case.

"Assuming you decide to continue, in the next few months you will experience working in a space suit, simulated micro gravity and lots of brain taxing learning exercises" Blue informed them all at the end of the demonstration.

"What will we be doing next time?" Doom asked.

"In two days time you will all be experiencing the kind of forces you would have to endure for a space launch. But until then you will be able to practice the kind of docking manoeuvres you all saw today, on the computers in your rooms. So if Calla could stay back for a minute please, I'll see the rest of you in two days."

"I'll wait for you outside" Doom smiled and wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

Calla gave her friend a very evil stare before going to talk with Blue.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I hope you didn't mind being thrown in the deep end today" Blue explained "I had hoped to talk to you about it first but I got too sidetracked trying to get everything ready."

"No problem" Calla shrugged.

"Thanks; I've noticed you are the kind of person who likes to try and stay ahead of the pack and not just meekly follow behind; so I was hoping you would consider some extra work by always doing the next lesson ahead of time, before the others."

"So I can help you out with the class?" Calla smiled.

"Precisely" Blue nodded "When we're doing practical exercises, it would really slow us down if I had to do things like getting people into space suits all by myself; but with your help things should go much smoother."

"No worries; I'm in" she grinned.

"Wonderful; now I just have to convince Emerson to do the same in Class 2."

"I err... think I should talk to him about it first" Calla said "I'll let you know what he thinks of the idea."

"Oh... alright, he is your brother so I guess you know what's best; thanks again."

"When did you want to tell us about Lesson Two?" Calla asked.

"If you've got the time, about 15:30 today would be good; we can go over everything before dinner and then I can head back to the ship."

"15:30" Calla pondered "That's 3:30pm right?"

"Yes" Blue nodded

"Okay then" Calla nodded "I'll go and talk to Emerson about it then."

"Thank you" Blue smiled.

"Oh and... thanks for not telling everyone about what I did last time we were in the simulator" Calla looked down and shuffled her foot.

"Why would I?" Blue responded "It wasn't your fault."

Calla smiled as she had turned to go and Blue was sure he heard her give a muffled giggle.

"Strange girl" he shook his head as she closed the door behind her.

"What did Blue want... and why are you giggling?" Doom asked as they wandered down the corridor.

"Blue asked me to help with the class on a permanent basis" Calla grinned.

"And that is funny because why?"

"Oh no Doom; the funny part is he wants Emerson to help him in the other class."

"You are really starting to annoy me Squirt; what are you talking about?"

"Okay I'll explain; last night after dinner, Emerson told me he was pulling out of training to work with some robotic engineers. When I asked him why, he said he could learn a lot from them. He got really ticked off though when I said it was because he was jealous of Blue and the attention you showed him."

"Very interesting" Doom smirked "Do me a little favour Squirt and let me ask him about helping Blue."

"If you want" Calla shrugged.

Not wanting to waste a minute, Doom went in search of Emerson. It took a long time but she eventually found him intensely studying a two meter long hydraulic claw arm in one of the many busy workshops.

"I've lost count of the number of people I had to ask where you were" was Dooms odd way of saying hello.

"What can I do for you" the disinterested young man said without looking up.

"Calla informs me you dropped out of flight training before it even started."

"Yeah... I'm just not interested anymore" Emerson admitted.

"Blue asked Calla to assist him in Class One as a kind of student supervisor" Doom informed him.

"I'll bet she gets a kick out of being semi in charge."

"Oh she loves it; and Blue was hoping you would take the same position in Class Two."

"Not interested" Emerson declared bluntly.

"Okay, I'll let him know" Doom nodded "Perhaps I should take on the position myself."

"Do what you want" Emerson huffed as his annoyance grew.

"I always do; but I won't unless he asks me first" Doom smiled as she decided to spell it out "No one ever gets anywhere with me if they don't even bother to ask."

It took Emerson a few seconds for her words to sink in and by the time he turned around, Doom was already half way to the door.

"What on Earth did she mean by that?" the clueless young man asked himself.

Doom did not really care about being Blues assistant, but she did hope her words would help Emerson to gather some courage. Blue partially found out what was going on when he walked back into the simulator room at 15:29 to find only one person present.

"Emerson not here yet?" he asked Calla.

"He's err... decided to take a different path and join the robotics team" she answered.

"Oh... fair enough; I guess I'll just have to find someone else in Group Two to help me."

"You could" Calla smiled "or just as you are teaching both classes, I could help out in both if you like. I'm sure it would also help me to stay ahead of the pack, as you put it before."

"Really... you don't mind the extra work?" Blue was surprised "Hmm; there's more to you than I'd given you credit for."

"Did you just insult me?" Calla glared.

"Err... did I? I didn't mean too" Blue said in his defence "I just meant you've raised my opinion of you."

"Quit while you're ahead big mouth" Calla sighed.

"Oh dear; and I promised Doom I'd try to stop saying everything I thought without thinking some more about it first."

"Forget about it Captain Tact and tell me what we're doing here today."

"Yes... sorry... well I do want to teach you a little more about the controls on the Orbit Shuttle for Class two's first lesson but before we do, I thought it would be good to give you a ride in the Centrifuge before the rookies get in it."

"So I can tell them what to expect without all the technical jargon" Calla nodded.

"Pretty much yeah; but also to give you a heads up on what you can expect during a launch just in case you find it too... shall we say unpleasant?" Blue said honestly.

"You think I can't handle it?" Calla looked at Blue sideways.

"It never hurts to find out for sure" Blue replied.

"One question though; I hate to ask but... what's a Centrifuge?"

* * *

While Blue explained the machine to Calla, Captain Branson made a visit to the ship to check up on someone.

"DeGroot; open up" he beat on the cabin door.

From inside Branson heard the sound of someone rushing forward and tripping over before the door was finally opened.

"What have I done now?" DeGroot asked defensively.

"Nothing, I just want to ask you something" the captain replied.

"Then instead of yelling and trying to bash the door in, try knocking politely for a change."

"Oh don't be so sensitive" Branson snorted even though he knew DeGroot was right.

"So what do you want?" the annoyed historian snorted back.

"I've been talking to Professor Adisa about going back to America; he tells me you've agreed to help him even though that kid you've been bothering is staying behind."

"Yes it's true" DeGroot nodded.

"It's not like you to be so co-operative" Branson look suspicious "What's your angle?"

"Nothing nefarious Captain; Blue made me a reasonable offer and I took him up on it."

"So he's letting you prattle on about all that dragon garbage?" Reed looked at DeGroot sideways.

"Eloquently put as usual but yes; I agreed to go, he's going to stay and I get more than a month to go over his family history."

"I just can't see you leaving when the person you've been searching for stays behind; it just doesn't seem like you" Reed was still very suspicious.

"I'm sure it will help if tell you this; I know I will see Blue again someday" DeGroot smiled.

"So those books of yours can tell the future, can they?" Reed said sarcastically as he turned to leave.

"Of course not Captain" DeGroot laughed.

He shut the door behind Branson before returning to the books on his desk, picking up one with old Viking runes on the cover.

"But some of them, can still be somewhat prophetic" he smiled.

* * *

 **Apparently cows kill more people every year than sharks do, but I still wouldn't pay to see a film called Cownado.**


	43. Chapter 43

**Sometimes I get a little frustrated when working on an adventurous chapter with lots of action, but then have to get a chapter ready to publish that is simple character development. Not this time though; I had a lot of fun messing with Calla here (bwa ha ha).**

* * *

Chapter 43

In a Spin

Sleeping on the MTV was quite comfortable for Abigail Dias but it still wasn't perfect. The artificial gravity afforded by the spinning habitat wheel was much better than the nauseating feel of microgravity but if she had her way, the rotation would be a little slower to match the gravity of Mars. It was a traditional safety requirement though, for every trip to have the rate of spin needed to give the ship the gravity of the destination planet. A few more weeks of travelling through space followed by the planetary survey and then she'd feel the relaxing gravity of Mars once again. At least she didn't have to wear her weighted clothing for now.

Abigail knew she should really be getting to sleep, but she held in her hand one of the most sought after luxuries a person could have while living in space; a letter from home. Maybe face to face contact would be permitted someday soon, if the survey shows there is no further risk from the Earth First Alliance, but notes on a tablet computer were very welcome and better than nothing. This letter was from her friend Sarah Winter; just seeing the name printed on the screen already made Abigail feel a little homesick, but the feeling intensified as she started to read.

Hello Abi my old friend,  
it's good to write to you again.

We've been having the most incredible time here at the Second Colony Site. The third Automated Supply Train arrived from Base One earlier this afternoon and we've been busy unloading everything into our first sealed underground cavern. The Martian atmosphere has not been replaced inside yet so we were still wearing pressure suits; if you listen carefully, you could probably hear Saffy complaining about it, even though you are halfway to Earth.

Your Mom says it will only be a few more days before the cavern has a good mix of nitrogen and oxygen at an Earth like air pressure, and then we can start setting up the first plant growth units here. Do you remember the childish feud Professor Topolski was having with Sierra Corbin? Well they have finally seen eye to eye on something. When your Mom said she wanted to stay in one of the surface habitats to direct construction, everyone insisted she and Saffy should be the first to move underground for the sake of the baby. One of my jobs has been to keep a close eye on the whole team's radiation exposure and I'm happy to say no one has received anything higher than a normal dose, but I agree Mrs. Dias should play it safe and go underground first; she is angry with all of us.

We lost one of the pods from Earth a few days ago when in a million to one chance occurrence, two out of the eight landing retro rockets failed. Before you tell me it has happened before, this time both rockets were on the same side of the landing pod meaning the computer was forced to shut down both the rockets on the opposite side to stop the Lander spinning out of control. So the pod still set down where it should have, but it came down really hard meaning most of the contents were destroyed although we did salvage a little bit.

Hope you and your Dad are both well, and I look forward to your eventual return.  
Stay safe; with love from Sarah.

Abigail placed the tablet in the compartment over her head and turned off the light. She felt pleased to have gotten the information from home, but it still made a little sad as well.

* * *

While both members of the Dias family rested in the Habitat ring, Commander Sage was involved in a little bit of unnecessary maintenance in the module behind the flight deck. He silently removed a small panel marked Emergency Release next to the MTV Inner Hatch and cut two wires. These wires routed a signal from the Flight Deck Hatch and informed the ships systems when the hatch was closed and locked. After Sage had connected the cut wires together, he replaced the panel and floated onto the Flight Deck. Being a modified Orion Capsule, the Flight Deck had its own internal Life Support as well as emergency oxygen supplies and it was these systems the Commander accessed next.

Sage floated into the navigator's seat and brought up the Orion Internal Systems on the screen. He knew there was no way to override the warning alert if the oxygen tanks were emptied, so he only lowered the tank pressures by ninety percent. He actually hoped he would not need to take advantage of his preparations, but he felt sure the Deep Council would be very pleased to know he was ready to act if anything should go wrong when the MTV reached Earth.

* * *

Back on the aforementioned planet, Calla Linwood found the Centrifuge machine to be very impressive to behold.

"So what does it do?" she asked Blue.

"You'll notice the main arm is counterweighted on the opposite side. The pilot candidate, or as I like to say 'the victim', is strapped into the seat at the end of the arm and spun around so their body can experience the same gravitational forces it would have to endure during a space launch" he replied.

"How strong are these gravitational forces and should I be worried?" Calla half smiled.

"Just standing here, you are currently experiencing one whole measure or as it is called, 1G. The centrifuge will take you up to about 5G; which means it will feel like you're five times heavier than you really are."

"And how dangerous is it to feel five times heavier?"

"Not very" Blue shrugged "Most people pass out before 10G but a guy on a rocket sled once went to 46G, but only for a fraction of a second. He was pretty badly injured so I think prolonged exposure to those kind of forces would kill you but don't worry; the machine can't go anywhere near that fast."

"Well... let's give this thing a go before I change my mind and run screaming from the room like my brother probably would" Calla declared.

"Okay then; take a seat" Blue offered.

The five point harness seat belt felt weird enough, but it was the sensors that really surprised Calla. There were pulse monitors attached to her wrist and neck, as well as a blood pressure band wrapped around her upper arm.

"If you look up, you will see Doctor Vieira in the control room. He'll be monitoring your vitals and will stop the machine if he thinks you've gone too far. There's a camera on the arm and speakers in the headrest so I'll be able to see you and we can talk to each other. It is very important for you to tell us what is happening at all times. If you feel a slight headache, tell us. If you get tunnel vision, tell us. If you feel dizzy..."

"Tell you; I get the idea" Calla said.

"The controls are simple" Blue explained "Just hold onto this joystick when you are ready to go and I'll take you up to 2G. Try it out for a while and if you want to go faster, just press your thumb on the red button; holding the button down will slowly speed up the machine. When you feel the increased pressure, release the button to hold the current speed and then press it again if you want to go faster. If you let go of the joystick altogether, the machine will come to a stop. There's a read out next to the camera so you can see how many G's you're pulling."

"So I slowly build up speed till I reach 5G and then hold for... how long?"

"No need to go to 5G today" Blue explained "If you can keep hold of the joystick at 3G for two minutes, you'd be in the top twenty percent of all first timers."

"How long did you go on your first try?" Calla asked.

"I'm not sure; but I know I did well" Blue smiled "We can look it up afterwards if you like."

"You bet I like" she nodded "Now let's get this party started."

Blue suspected it would not be in his best interests to delay Calla any longer, so he exited the room and closed the safety door.

"Okay I've got a green light on the override" Blue noted into his headset "Is she set to go Doc?"

"Pulse is a little elevated, but not excessively; you are cleared to proceed" Quill Vieira replied.

"Proceeding" Blue acknowledged as he brought the motor online.

The Southern Lapwing of Nervous Anticipation aggravated the butterflies in Calla stomach as she watched the readout in front of her count up from 1.1 to 1.3. By the time the centrifuge reached 2.0 she was beginning to get used to the sensation of spinning and the slight pressure on her body, so she decided to go a little higher.

"How are you feeling my dear?" Doctor Vieira's voice came through the speaker.

"No problems so far" Calla replied as she pressed the red button.

"Please be aware of your vision and your equilibrium" the doctor informed her.

"My equal-what?"

"Just let me know if you get dizzy or feel light headed."

The display showed Calla passing 3G but instead of holding, she decided to push on to 3.5G. Calla suspected Blue had told her to only go as high as 3G so he could hold the record for a first time run on the centrifuge and she was determined to beat him.

"Any changes yet?" Quill checked a minute later.

"I still feel okay but things do look a little fuzzy on the edges" she replied.

"Not surprising since your blood pressure has dropped a little, but you're still at a healthy level."

Calla pressed the button again and went a little faster. After sitting on 4.1G for another minute, she pressed her thumb firmly on the button again.

"You're going a bit fast" Blue broke through "I think you'd better hold it there for now."

"I'm okay" she insisted not wanting to admit she was feeling very light headed "and you do want me to give everyone a good idea on what to expect, don't you?"

"Maybe so but you've got enough to tell them already" Blue replied "I'm shutting you down."

Calla glanced up at the display to see she had reached 4.6G before the machine began to slow down. It took another minute and a half to slow to a stop and Calla was surprised to find the dizziness she felt did not stop with it. Blue hurried into the room as soon as the machine slowed to a crawl and looked into her eyes.

"The machine may have stopped already but it will take a few minutes for your head to follow suit" he smiled.

"I bet I beat your record" Calla slurred.

"What record?" Blue asked.

"For first time on a centipede" she grinned.

"A centipede? Yes I think you've got that record."

"Don't undo the straps yet Blue" Doctor Vieira called down from the monitoring room.

"Why not?" Calla asked Blue.

"The Doc just wants to be sure you have time to get you equilibrium back before you try to stand up."

"Oh I'm fine, stop fussing" Calla declared as she hit the quick release button on the seat restraint and immediately fell on top of Blue... again.

"Oh wow... I feel weird" She complained as she rolled on to her back.

"Just lay still and take a few long deep breaths" Blue ordered as he got up onto his knees.

"I thought I told you not to undo the straps" Quill barked as he entered the room.

"Not guilty Your Honour" Blue protested.

Doctor Vieira knelt down next to Blue and placed two fingers on Calla's neck.

"Pulse is strong" he said "are you feeling nauseous?"

"Only a little" Calla admitted.

"I heard what you said about bettering Blues record for first time on the centrifuge" the doctor admitted "so I checked the computer."

"And?" Calla asked excitedly.

"Congratulations; not only did you beat his record, you annihilated it."

"Wow... how fast did Blue go?"

"1.3G for two minutes" Doctor Vieira smiled.

"You're kidding me" Blue was shocked "I must have gone faster than 1.3G."

"No, I double checked because I thought it was odd too" Quill grinned "But I wouldn't worry if I were you; after all, you were just three years old at the time."

"Three years old?" Calla eyes could only have opened wider if she had been a cartoon.

"The centrifuge was the closest thing we had to a carnival ride" Quill shrugged "So Sarah took him on it for fun when he was little."

"Suddenly I don't feel so bad anymore" Blue grinned.

"Suddenly I feel very silly for trying so hard to beat a three year old" Calla sighed.

* * *

Saffron Dias frowned as considered the broken fingernail on her right hand. Classroom lessons and theory may be dull and boring compared to hands on experience, but assisting with the repair of the hydraulic system on a construction robot was tough on a nine year olds fingers. A small icon blinked on the computer behind her; Saffron had tried to call Holly Duncan back at the main base but she had not yet been successful, so leaving an open line request was the best option for contact. Timing was not on her side though because just as Saffron began file the rough edge of her broken nail, the icon turned from grey to white and began to beep.

"About time you picked up" Saffron complained "I've been waiting hours for you to get home."

"Then why does the timer say eight minutes?" Holly smirked.

"It felt like hours" Saffron replied "Life here is all rushed work followed by mind numbing boredom."

"Sounds like someone is missing her big sister" Holly's smirk was raised to a much higher level.

"Don't be silly Hol; no way do I miss ol' butt face" Saffron sneered.

"Maybe not when you're busy, but she was always there for you during the mind numbing boredom."

"To be honest, it was Abby who always cheered me up when I missed Dad" Saffron admitted "But I think it's Mom who feels it the most; I'm just glad they'll be back before she has the baby."

"And you won't be the baby any more" Holly laughed.

"You're the youngest in your family too" Saffron protested.

"Maybe so, but I'm still three and a half years older than you Tiny. So what has had you so busy when you're not dying of boredom?"

"Practical stuff mainly" Saffron replied "Professor Topolski even has Sarah teaching most of our in class stuff; we call her Miss Winter just to annoy her."

"I heard your Mom is coming back here on the next supply run to choose the next group of colonists for Base Two" Holly revealed "I hope you're coming too."

"She said I should, but I want to stay here" Saffron insisted. "Who would want to spend another week crawling across the surface of Mars?"

"You make it sound like you'll be doing the trip on your hands and knees" Holly laughed again.

"At least that would be something different. I've sent you the latest progress report for your next class presentation; you'll find it in your inbox file" Saffron informed her friend.

"Just think Saffy, when you get back I'll be able to present you to the class. Beware the dreaded Martian Dias; scourge of the western wastelands. Don't get your fingers too close, 'cause she bites."

"And you'll be the first one I nibble on" Saffron snorted and pressed the disconnect button.

* * *

 **This week I thought I would try and find out something interesting about my home state of South Australia to tell you all about, and one of the first things I discovered is that it is home to the world's largest cattle station. I thought this was a good choice because last time I wrote about cows and sharks (we have lots of those here too). At roughly 24,000 square kilometres, Anna Creek Station (or Ranch to those in other countries) is larger than Israel or Belgium, and eight times the size of the largest ranch in the United States.**

 **So I have to admit it's true when people say Australia is a load of bull (cow too), but I think New Zealand has us beaten on the number of sheep... and possibly Orcs as well (bad Lord of the Rings joke; tee hee).**


	44. Chapter 44

**The last two times I posted new chapters, notifications weren't sent so if you get one this time, there may be a few back chapters to read too.**

 **This chapter has a reference to the preview story called The Ship and because some readers may not have read it, I try not to make knowledge of it absolutely essential.**

 **I do believe this is the longest chapter so far.**

* * *

Chapter 44

If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?

Ruth Kinderman double checked the airlock hatch manually before checking the seal electronically. The computer asked her to verify undocking procedure for the lander headed for Mars and with all lights green, she presses the confirm button. The station vibrated slightly as the clamps released, setting the capsule free and sending half the Orbit Station crew on their short journey back home to the red planet.

"Have a good trip guys and we'll see you next month" she said before releasing the comms button.

After all the revelations they had discovered about Professor Adisa, Blue and the ship on their last trip back from Earth, the Kindermans decided to stay on station as long as they were permitted by the Mars Citizens Council. When asking for the assignment, Jarred had told them it was because they had become accustomed to living in space and wanted to make the most of this last opportunity until the MTV returned from its last journey. No one knew the real reason they wanted to stay was actually to eavesdrop in on any more communications that may come from Earth and now they were alone on station, no one would ever find out.

Ruth floated back to the ladder and began to climb down to the control room of the rotating station. Every step away from the hub and towards the rim brought a higher level of simulated gravity until she reached the rim where her husband had made a complete mess of the orbit to ground comms system.

"Careful where you step" he warned "I've got delicate equipment everywhere."

"What did you tell Mars Comms?" Ruth asked.

"We'd be down for maintenance for the next hour."

"You really expect to get all this back together in under an hour?"

"No; but they know I'm working on the comms, so they'll just assume I ran into a few unforseen problems" Jarred grinned.

"When in reality, you're... what are you doing?" Ruth asked.

"I'm setting up our own little bypass receiver system" Jarred informed his wife "From now on, anything routed through the station or even picked up by its receiver, will have a copy stored in this little box."

He held up the 100mm cube and waved his hand over it as if it were a magical object.

"What happens after we leave the station?" Ruth wondered.

"All we have to do is access the focused laser transceiver and send the right coded signal, and then the unit will transfer all its data back on the same carrier. It should keep working as long as the station still has power, even after we eventually leave here for Mars."

"You really missed you true calling in espionage" Ruth said "I'm just glad you're on my side."

* * *

As the weeks went by, work continued steadily on the extension of the Railgun. The first task was to electrify the empty section of the tunnel so the workers could see what they were doing and the Works Tram could travel past the end of the current usable length. None of the Railgun staff believed they would ever be working on this empty section of tunnel again and it felt good to be finally filling it with equipment.

Even though there was still a long way to go before the first humans would be launched, preparations were already being made to resume firing payloads into orbit. Supplies from the ship arrived daily and the manufacturing of the new Autonomous Asteroid Mining Equipment was soon well underway. There were robotic machines for collecting rock, processing ore, grinding and collecting ice, purifying water, manufacturing bonding silicates, printing habitats and many more devices ranging from the size of a toaster, through to the size of a school bus.

Blue was so busy, he was run off his feet. There was his work with Willow and her team on the Asteroid Ring Base design, training the future asteroid miners, as well as keeping his deal with Maximilian DeGroot. As time went on, he found working with Calla was getting easier and easier because she found it very satisfying to be the Assistant Trainer. She did like showing everyone else proper procedures, how things worked and generally being the centre of attention in both classes.

After she had been in the role for a while, Blue found a good way encouraging the more nervous members of the classes by using Callas youth against them.

"If a thirteen year old can go in the pool in a pressure suit to simulate working in a micro gravity environment, then surely you can too" he would say to them.

This method worked well for him; until one day when Calla interrupted him in the middle of his speech.

"What makes you think you can't learn to manually dock two spacecraft, if a thirteen year old girl finds it easy... " Blue started.

"Err... fourteen actually" a voice behind him said.

"I thought you were..."

"I was yesterday" Calla grinned.

Everyone in the class began wishing Calla a Happy Birthday and after singing the traditional song, Blue abandoned class for the rest of the day in favour of retiring to the kitchen so everyone could enjoy a celebratory desert. Most of the day's minor celebrations made Calla very happy, but not when Doom started telling humorous and slightly embarrassing stories about the birthday girl.

* * *

"The worst part was when she told them all about the time I tripped on a lanyard and fell against the mast. Everyone laughed when Doom said there was still a blood stain on the Star Runner's mainsail" Calla giggled as she told her parents over dinner.

"Well I'm glad you had a fun day but if you will all excuse me, I've got some work to do on a Core Drill" Emerson declared and left the dinner table.

Ursula was perplexed; her daughter seemed to have matured in attitude so much in the last few weeks, while her older brother appeared to be regressing.

"She may enjoy regularly embarrassing me in front of the others, but I'm still really going to miss her if she leaves" Calla added.

Emerson halted in his tracks so sharply, it was as if the floor was covered in glue. The real reason behind his sudden stop, was the arrival of the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock.

"Where is she going? Are you still talking about Harriet Doom?" he asked.

Slowly over time, most of the people from Captain Branson's exodus fleet came to the same decision. Life in the Railgun Complex was better than anything any of them had ever known in the past. There was relative safety, good food, comfortable quarters and interesting work, so almost all decided not to continue on to the unknown north. The few who hadn't made up their minds eventually realised they were too small a number to go on alone, and so they all considered the other options apart from the Railgun Complex; the nearby town, the ship were some options, along with joining the crew of the One and All when it sailed to America. One of those people considering leaving with Captain Branson, just happened to be Miss Doom.

After Calla had told Emerson the whole story, he put the Core Drill on hold and went in search of Doom; eventually finding her working in one of the underground farms. She was standing with a cart containing fifty eggs and it would soon also contain various vegetables for tomorrow's meals.

"Harriet!" he called out as he approached.

"Now you know better than to call me by that name" she smirked but without turning to face Emerson.

"Calla just told me you're leaving" the young man blurted out.

"Perhaps" was all Doom said in reply.

"But why?"

"Surely Calla would have told you why."

"She said you were hoping to meet someone" Emerson said while trying to ignore the influence of the Rockhopper Penguin of Confusion.

"So you already know why then" Doom replied as she chose a very fresh looking zucchini for the cart.

"But who do you want to meet?" Emerson continued to dig.

"I don't know; I haven't met them yet" Doom answered and pushed the cart towards the onions.

Emerson followed while desperately trying to work out what to say next.

"I thought you and Blue... were..." he began.

"Blue and I were what?" Doom asked when nothing more came from Emerson.

"I thought... he was... well... your boyfriend."

"Did you really?" Doom replied casually "And what made you think he was, as you so quaintly put it, my boyfriend?"

"Well err... when you first met him... you err..." Emerson felt like he was rapidly burying himself.

"Said he was a babe? Went for a long walk on the beach at sunset while holding his arm?" Doom smiled to herself.

"Well... yeah."

"Is that why you've been avoiding me?" she asked.

"I haven't been avoiding you" Emerson protested "I've just been... doing... other things."

"Other things" Doom repeated.

She was tempted to point out the only time Emerson had not constantly found excuses to be in her company, was when he was sailing with his father; but she decided against it.

"I'm afraid I really have no choice but to go on the One and All when she sets sail for America" Doom insisted "Unless of course..."

"Unless what?" Emerson asked eagerly.

"Well... maybe if someone could give me a reason not to go?"

Emerson quickly racked his brain in an attempt to come up with something viable.

"Calla told me you were enjoying those living in space classes" he blurted out "There's one good reason to stay."

Doom sighed as she pushed the laden cart towards the door.

"I'm going to drop this stuff off at the kitchen. If you come up with something better than training for space flight, I'll be down at the ship; Mr. DeGroot is going to tell Blue and I more about the Dragon Riders this evening."

"There's another reason" Emerson lit up "If you go, you won't get to..."

"Give up Emerson" Doom interrupted "Firstly DeGroot is going on the voyage too but even if he wasn't, learning about the Dragon Riders is not enough to make me change my mind. It's becoming more and more obvious to me that you're not going to give me any good reason to stay."

Doom's mood had suddenly gotten much darker; so although Emerson desperately wanted to keep trying, he thought he'd better wait for another opportunity.

* * *

Time continued to pass by quickly in the complex as more and more parts and supplies arrived from the ship but one of the main topics of conversation was the imminent departure of Professor Adisa. While many wished he would not leave, there was one person who also wanted to ensure he and his shipmates returned safe and sound. With the departure of the One and All only a few days away, Fariz Amran asked the Professor to bring a few of his engineers along with Captain Branson to the village south of the Railgun. He said it was about something very important.

"Thank you for coming" Fariz said as he led the small group down an ally off the main road.

"No offence but I hope this was worth the trip" Branson complained "We've got a lot of prep work to do before we leave."

"I do apologise for not bringing this to your attention earlier, but I completely forgot about what I'm about to show you" Fariz admitted.

They passed by several buildings till they came to what used to be a small mechanics workshop, but was now a forgotten relic. As Sid and Amos helped Fariz pull open the main entrance, the top hinge of the five meter door snapped off and everyone had to jump back before being flattened.

"Err... whoops" Fariz grinned sheepishly.

"Is it safe to go in?" Jeana Davy asked.

"Probably not" Linton said as he walked in behind Fariz.

"As you can imagine, after the armed men came fifteen years ago asking questions about you, we became a little concerned about our future safety, almost to the point of paranoia" Fariz admitted as he lifted a wooden trapdoor in the floor.

"It's not paranoia if the threat is real" Sid noted.

Willow and Branson turned on the torches they carried and shone the beams onto one of several tarps in the cramped cellar.

"True; so when the ship did turn up, we all felt we should not leave these out for anyone to find" Fariz said as he pulled at the tarp.

Everyone stepped forward to examine the large pile of crates as Fariz pried off the lid of one in the front.

"Is that..." Sid gasped when he saw what was inside.

"The barrels from one of the Phalanx guns? Jeana finished the sentence.

"How could you forget about this?" Willow asked in surprise.

"After we'd dismantled them, we put them in here specifically to forget about them" Fariz revealed "We didn't need them, but we also did not want them used against us... or against you either."

"Surely the Phalanx system would be too big and heavy for a wooden sailing ship like the One and All" Linton sighed.

"I'm sure we could fabricate the gun parts into something a little less automatic and a little more defensive" Willow noted "I don't imagine you would need to shoot down any more anti-ship missiles on this trip."

"These things can shoot down a missile?" Branson gasped.

"Correction; these things did shoot down a missile; when we were attacked southwest of Hawaii" Jeana grinned "and if anyone tried to take your vessel Captain Branson, it could easily cut the attacking ship in half; assuming it wasn't a reinforced steel military vessel."

"Well it all sounds very impressive but I still doubt we could make room for them and still have enough space for all the supplies we'd need to carry."

"Guys; huddle" Willow beaconed her team for a quick discussion.

After a minute of mumbling, they broke with broad smiles on their faces.

"I do believe we can fix all your problems" Willow nodded "but you will have to delay your departure for a week or two."

* * *

Soon a new set of pods were being readied for launch in the staging area adjacent to the Railgun and Blue decided it would be good to take the opportunity for his students to familiarise themselves with the equipment.

"If everything goes according to plan, these five spacecraft will be the foundation of our future home" Blue explained. "Each cylinder is fifteen meters long and four meters in diameter and they are a revolutionary new designed being used for the first time."

"Uh... excuse me for asking, but what's so revolutionary about a big tube?" one of the trainees asked what they all were thinking.

"These differ from previous supply pods we've sent up for Mars Base, in two important ways. Firstly there are no rockets to slow the craft, parachutes, airbags or landing legs. Secondly each one is made from a flexible material and can be opened up along its length. When all five are open, they can join with each other to make one much larger cylinder" Blue explained.

"Okay but what are you going to do with an even bigger empty tube?" another trainee asked "We can't just live in it like that."

"I doubt anyone will live in this" Blue explained "but you may end up working in it. These units are not empty; each one is packed with autonomous machinery for mining, refining, building, water purifying and many other tasks."

"By autonomous machinery, Blue means robots" Calla said with a sigh "Try not to confuse everyone."

"Oh err... sorry" Blue apologised "Anyway, when the pods are all liked together, two Ion Engines will fold out of units three and five, and the entire unit will begin a two month journey to the asteroid belt; in particular to a rocky asteroid about fifty kilometres across. When the integrated unit arrives, it will attach itself to the asteroids and then all the robots can go to work processing rock and ice while the Ion Engines will start to push the asteroid to a different location; a much bigger metal asteroid named 16 Psyche."

"So the robots in these five pods are going to build us a new home?" another asked.

"Yes but not just these five" Blue continued "There are a total of fifty being constructed making a total of ten full sized units. The second will go to straight to 16 Psyche and attach to one of the poles. Eventually the first one will arrive with its mined supplies and begin construction. The others eight units will be sent to eight much smaller asteroids of rock and ice and attached themselves just like the first; the robots inside each will go to work while each asteroid is also being pushed into orbit around 16 Psyche. By the time they all meet up, there will be about five hundred robots busily working on the first space habitat; the first two people should arrive about a year later."

"Who will be the first ones to go?" Calla asked.

"I don't know" Blue responded "but I can tell you now, their main tasks will be servicing and repairing autonomous construction machinery, and setting up hydroponic plant systems; we can't keep sending food supplies forever and being self sufficient is the name of the game."

Seeing and touching the first fruits of all the promises made by Linton Adisa and Sarah Spencer, gave the trainees a whole new outlook on the whole project. Perhaps not surprisingly, a few were actually put off by having to face the reality of what they were doing. As a result, Captain Branson ended up with a few more crew members for the One and All, due to depart for America in only two more days. There was also one more person planning to join the crew, but he had a very different reason for wanting to go.

* * *

"Hey Doom, can I talk with you for a minute?" Emerson called out as he chased the young lady down a corridor.

"Hi Emerson" she smiled "have you come to say goodbye?"

"Not really; I just wanted to see if you were still going."

"Nobody has given me a reason to stay yet" Doom answered.

"Well... I've decided I'm going too then" Emerson said with purpose.

Harriet Doom stopped in her tracks; she had not expected him to say this.

"Are you really?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yes" he declared adamantly.

"Come in here" Doom demanded as she entered one of the currently unoccupied workshops "Now tell me why."

"Why am I going?"

"No; why is a Raven like a Writing Desk" she declared sarcastically "OF COURSE WHY ARE YOU GOING!"

The Raven of Despair poked his beak around the door but soon realised Doom did not mean him. The Raven used to be very busy when the Railgun complex was in lockdown for fifteen years, but now the doors were open once more, he seemed to have a lot more free time on his hands... I mean wings.

"Well?" Doom crossed her arms.

"It err... should be a bit of an adventure" Emerson put forward.

"Adventure" Doom sneered "And do you remember why I am going?"

"Calla said you wanted to meet someone" Emerson reminded himself of what he did not want to think about.

"I assume you know what that means, don't you?" Doom asked but got no reply "So how will you feel about it if I do meet someone else?"

"I didn't think of that" Emerson sighed.

"The last time we talked, you tried to get me to change my mind and stay; why?" Doom pushed.

Emerson felt trapped by the Grass Finch of Embarrassment while Doom could not shake off the Pink-headed Fruit Dove of Frustration.

"I... I'd miss you" Emerson admitted at last.

"So why do you really want to go along now?"

"To... to..."

"Spit it out!" she demanded.

"TO BE WITH YOU" he blurted out.

"WHY?" Doom shouted back.

"BECAUSE..." Emerson head dropped as he closed his eyes "...because... I... like you."

A fog of silence descended over them as Doom considered the confession Emerson had finally made.

"Then why didn't you ever bother to tell me before?" she said coldly and walked out.

* * *

 **Okay, here's a weird little fact about my home.**

 **South Australia is the only place worldwide where a milk drink outsells a cola product.**

 **The amount of Farmers Union Ice Coffee drunk each year here equates to about 22.5 litres per resident. Such is the prevalence of this Ice Coffee in South Australia, that the locally produced third edition of the Mitsubishi Magna came with square cup holders to hold the carton.**

 **Statistics show that Famers Union Iced Coffee outsold Coca-Cola at a ratio of almost 3:1 in South Australia.**

 **Personally though, I hate coffee (yuk).**


	45. Chapter 45

**Sorry this one is a little late; I've had a week and a half. Quick shout out to Appleye2, Draco38, midnightsky0612 and a few guests too; thanks for reading and reviewing everyone and a big hello to my good friend** **Stripesicles222** **. Hope you are all enjoying this odd little tale.**

* * *

Chapter 45

Departure and Disaster.

It was not easy for Reed Branson to watch his ship being lifted out of the water and placed on the deck of the giant tanker. It was even harder to watch them slice off the vessels keel and cut three large holes in the hull.

"I hope your people know what they're doing" Branson said as he took a deep breath.

Professor Adisa slapped the Captain on the shoulder and smiled.

"If not, we all go down together when your ship sinks" he joked.

"As if that makes me feel any better" Reed sighed.

Next to the One and All, a forty meter long, four meter wide bluish grey tube sat on the deck waiting to be fitted under the Brigantine. As he considered the new addition to his ship and watched its installation, Branson was beginning to wonder if he had made the right decision when he agreed to the engineers plan.

"So this thing is made out of space ships?" he asked.

"Not exactly" Linton explained "Each section was the inner pressurised part of the supply pods we would send to Mars. There was also an outer skin with fold out landing legs, rockets around the lower skirt and parachutes. Now that we no longer need to land the pods, we've started using a new design with a flexible wall."

"So these are surplus to requirement" Reed noted.

"Indeed yes. By putting this unit in place of the standard keel, you are increasing the amount of cargo space on board by a factor of four and enabling the fitting of our defensive weaponry. With all three access hatches hidden under the lowest points of the One and All, it also means if we do get raided, we should be able to keep our supplies hidden."

"I doubt we'll have to worry about raiding parties with those 20mm rapid fire cannons backing us up" Reed grinned "but tell me how this thruster works without a propeller."

"No doubt about it" Linton Adisa smiled "Willow little gang of miracle workers have outdone themselves there. The water is drawn in two side vents in the rear section by an electrically driven turbine impeller; it's then thrown out the back as high speed water jet. In favourable conditions, it should be able to propel the ship to a speed of twenty knots for a short time."

"Hopefully long enough to get us out of trouble" Reed crossed his fingers.

It had taken Willows team (and another thirty seven draftees) over a week to construct their miracle masterpiece and another three days work to install it on the One and All, but Sarah wasn't concerned about the lost time if it would help the Professor and his companions stay safe. Later as the Brigantine was lowered back into the water, it did not escape anyone's notice how much the sailing ship looked like it had submarine stuck to its keel. Once it was finally back in the water, everyone worked late into the night making final systems checks and loading up the new extension with supplies so Captain Branson could set sail the next morning.

The sun had not yet shown itself in the eastern sky when the time finally came. A small number of people gathered on the floating dock next the giant tanker's bow, where the One and All's life boat sat and waited for its final passengers of the morning.

"I don't think you realise how much I'm going to miss you" Sarah Spencer declared as her eyes began to water.

"You've been doing a wonderful job as the new Railgun Co-ordinator" Professor Adisa smiled "and I know you will continue to do so after we leave."

"You emotionless old fool" Sarah tried to laugh "It's you I'm going to miss, not your advice."

"I know what you mean" Linton smiled as he hugged her warmly "You've been like a daughter to me and I am very proud of you."

"You've been a cranky old coot but I still don't want you to go" she started to cry.

"While I don't know how long we'll be away, I'll try not to dawdle; we'll be back before you know it."

"Not fast enough though" Sarah sighed.

A little further back, Maximilian DeGroot had one final task before he took his seat in the boat. His belongings were already stowed on the One and All but he had kept back a very special book; one he had not shown to Blue previously.

"How are your studies on the Viking rune writings progressing?" he asked.

"Oh not bad" Blue responded "I'm getting used to recognising basic sentence structure and grammar, but I still need to use the alphabet chart on most words; I can pick out 'and' and 'the' easily enough though."

"Then you will definitely need your chart for this" DeGroot smiled as he handed Blue the book.

"I don't think I've ever seen this one before" Blue looked at it curiously.

"You haven't; I have been keeping this book away from you on purpose" DeGroot gave an almost evil grin. "I know you don't fully believe me about the dragons and your ancestry, but I feel sure when you see the things written in here, you will look on what I have taught you in a new light of understanding."

"It's a pretty thick book" Blue noted "It'll take me a while to translate."

"Believe me young man; it will be worth the trouble. The entire book is fascinating but I have placed a few bookmarks to lead you to the most important parts."

"What is it exactly?" Blue asked.

"It is the collected writings of an old woman who was an adviser to three generations of Viking chiefs and the last of these was the Dragon Master himself; her name was Gothi."

"Funny name" Blue smirked as Calla rushed towards him with a warning.

"The Professor is about to board the boat" she declared urgently "Last chance to say goodbye."

"And your last chance to get on Mr. DeGroot" Blue added.

"Don't worry I'm going" DeGroot huffed as he started to walk down the dock.

Blue and Calla followed along even though the small walkway was becoming quite crowded. They found Sarah Spencer still in tears as Professor Adisa was helped onto the lifeboat.

"Good luck Professor" Blue called out "I look forward to hearing about what you find over there."

"I just hope we do find something" Linton replied.

DeGroot followed the Professor onto the boat leaving only two of its passengers on the dock.

"Here we go again Jack" Captain Branson nodded.

"Happy to be back at sea sir?" jack Sumner asked.

"Normally I'd say yes, but I'm not too sure about what the good Professor's team of engineers have done to my ship; it took me all of the last two weeks to learn how to operate her again."

"Should be an interesting journey sir."

"No doubt about it Jack" Branson declared "Get the stern line."

As Jack followed the order, Reed Branson untied the bow line and stepped onboard. Jack Sumner pushed the boat away from the dock as he stepped down and sat by the tiller; he contemplated the new control switches on the handle. The boat once had a small petrol engine many decades ago, but it had been reduced to sail and oar long before Jack had joined the One and All crew. Now the lead keel had been replaced by a sealed battery pack, the bow and stern had been covered with solar collection material and under the rear hatch was a small electric motor. Jack pressed his thumb onto the safety switch, twisted the handle slightly and the boat began to power its way back to the ship.

"Electrically driven lifeboats; I could get used to this" he smiled to himself.

A small crowd of people called out and waved to the little boat, from the stern of the giant ship while Sarah and Blue watched from the floating dock. Calla meanwhile walked back to the beach and around to the bow where another truckload of material awaited its driver for the trip back to the Railgun Complex.

"Hello Emerson" she greeted her brother "You got back here sooner than I expected."

"There were so many people at the stern of the ship, I decided not to stay" he explained "It's not as if I could see her anyway."

"You mean Doom? She's still asleep" Calla said in a matter of fact way.

"How do you know?" Emerson asked.

"Blue had a telescope set up and we were doing a bit of stargazing last night. Doom was really tired by the time we finished and she asked me not to wake her when I came down this morning" Calla explained.

"But... isn't she on the ship?"

"Yes; in her cabin sleeping."

"I mean the other ship" Emerson blurted out "The One and All."

"No she's asleep in her cabin, here on this ship" Calla huffed "How many times do I have to say it?"

Without another word, Emerson sprinted into the ship and ran up the stairs. His chest began to ache and his throat was burning before he was a quarter of the way along the deck, but he didn't slow down. When he reached the rear superstructure, he almost knocked a few people over as he ran up the stairs and along the corridor. Without knocking, Emerson threw the door of Harriet Doom's cabin open and hurried over to the bedroom where just as his sister had said, she lay sleeping peacefully.

"I said I did not want to be woken up" she mumbled without looking up.

At first Emerson could not even speak, but eventually his breath returned and he half spoke and half gasped.

"You didn't go; you're still here."

"Your powers of observation are truly astounding" Doom noted.

"I don't understand; I thought you..." Emerson tried to be more coherent but his head was spinning.

"I don't know what is so confusing" Doom yawned "I told you I wouldn't go if you gave me a good reason to stay; now shut up and let me get back to sleep."

"But... but I didn't..."

"Yes you did" she insisted.

"But how... when?"

Doom did not answer straight away but instead beckoned Emerson to come closer; he nervously approached and bent down.

"When you told me that you liked me" she whispered in his ear and kissed him on the cheek "Now be a good boy and go away. You could always head off to the galley and make me some eggs on toast for breakfast."

Emerson staggered towards the door feeling mildly surprised; just as you would expect since there was a Stormy Petrel sitting on his head.

"Eggs on toast" he mumbled as he touched his cheek; he could still fell where her lips had touched him "Why didn't I tell her months ago?"

"My thoughts precisely" Doom whispered to herself as the door closed.

* * *

That evening Blue lay down on his bed after a very busy day and pondered how odd it felt knowing the Professor had gone, especially since he had been the one who had wanted to leave. He was trying his best to ignore the Book of Gothi but as it sat on his desk, the strange knowing look Maximilian DeGroot had on his face when handing it to Blue, began to gnaw at his mind; the Wood Duck sitting on the book didn't help either.

"Why not?" he asked himself as he walked to the desk and sat down.

Blue opened the top left draw and took a notepad and pencil before opening up the book to the first of the pages where DeGroot had placed a book mark. Most of what he read was made up of simple words and was easy to follow as he copied the translation onto his notepad, but he still needed to refer occasionally to the rune chart Blue had posted on the wall behind his desk.

Gothi appeared to be giving an account of a journey she had taken one day with a Viking named Stoickson. She had led the young man halfway up a mountain outside the village of Berk, to a cave closed off by a wooden wall and door.

"Hmm... cosy" Blue smiled to himself.

As someone who until recently had spent his entire life underground, a cave house did not seem strange at all. It was difficult to translate the name of Gothi's destination but based on the words he knew, Blue figured the name to be the Cave of Revelation or something close; it was certainly a much more impressive name than Berk anyway. The next section he translated, spoke of Chiefson being taken deep inside the cave to a place called the Vision Portal.

"Okay so where did this guy named Chiefson come from?" Blue asked himself.

He went back over what he had already read to see if he had missed the place where this second person had joined Gothi and Stoickson when he realised he was mistranslating the words.

"Ah; it's the same guy" Blue smiled.

Stoick the Vast was the chief of Berk during the last years of the Dragon Wars, so Son of Stoick and Son of Chief were both the young man known as the Dragon Master. The story went on to describe how Gothi activated the Vision Portal with a sparkling red dust, showing the Son of Stoick his triumphant future.

"First it was dragons and now a magic window to the future" Blue smirked "Oh DeGroot, how gullible do you think I am?"

Although he was starting to feel a little tired, Blue wanted to see where this story was going, so he decided to give it another hour. Gothi wrote about the Son of Stoick seeing himself as a proud and happy man with a bright future before things took a very strange turn. Instead of continuing to see his future self in the portal, another young man appeared; and this newcomer introduced himself to the Chief's son as...

"It can't be" Blue gasped as he slammed the book shut.

* * *

The departure of the One and All had given everyone in the complex a renewed impetus to push on with their work. Emerson eventually approached Blue to ask about re-joining his classes and was surprised by the young man's reaction. Instead of being chastised for wasting his time and changing his mind, Emerson was encouraged to take on a role similar to his sister had, but with the engineers.

"Every one of the trainees needs know about the machines we'll be using on the Asteroids" Blue explained "So I'd like to put one of the engineers you've been working with in charge of that side of the training. You've had so much experience with them already, I think you're the perfect choice to help translate all the 'tech talk' into something everyone can all relate to; Calla has been a great help to me and I believe you will to the engineers too."

"Err... sure" Emerson replied "But what about all the stuff you've done over the last month?"

"Calla and I will help you catch up" Blue smiled "Just don't try to beat your sister's record on the centrifuge; most people black out before they get close."

Blue was right about the new training system and Emerson progressed well over the next week. Partly because Calla relished in training her older brother but mostly because Emerson loved studying with Doom; although he still had a long way to go before he would be as proficient as the others in the class.

* * *

The first launch of the new set of pods was less than forty eight hours away when up in space, something new entered the picture; the Mars Transfer Vehicle had finally moved into Low Earth Orbit. Of the three Astronauts on board one was excited to see Earth up so close, one was looking forward to returning to his pregnant wife on Mars and the last one was getting nervous. Commander Sage had made plans for almost any eventuality but thought of the unexpected still had him on edge.

"Commencing recording" Abigail said as she gazed in wonder at the screen.

She thought nothing would top seeing Earth through the glass of the cupola, but the detail revealed by the high resolution camera was truly amazing. Clouds obscured some of the coast of Western China, but she could easily see Southern Japan. The first major scaring came into view as they approached the border of Alaska and Canada where three large craters formed a triangle.

"Not easy to look at is it?" Luis stated from his seat in the nose of the capsule.

"I wish I could have seen it before the asteroids hit" Abigail sighed in replied into her headset mike.

There were still large areas of land that had escaped devastation while others appeared to have been hit multiple times. Abigail found herself wondering if these places had been unlucky enough to be repeatedly in the line of fire, or could it have been a single large meteorite that had exploded in the upper atmosphere before its remaining fragments had rained down peppering the area.

"Moving out over Florida" Abigail reported.

There was not much to see over the featureless Atlantic until the southern tip of South Africa appeared and the MTV's orbit moved north once more. In reality the line of the orbit was straight but the angle of the planets rotation made the spacecraft appear to move over the Earth in a wave pattern. Commander Sage sat silently at the rear of the capsule monitoring the path of the MTV on an overlay of the planet below. After an hour of recording images for later study back on Mars, a pre-set alert appeared on the computer screen warning Sage his ship would pass over West Sumatra in only ten minutes; he slipped out of his seat and floated out of the nose capsule and into the main body of the ship.

"Everything working well Cadet?" he asked Abigail.

"Yes sir" she replied "We're getting some great recordings and high resolution stills."

"Very good Cadet, but I could use a rest from staring at the computer screen; take over for a few minutes please."

"Right away sir" Abigail obeyed as she dropped down out of the cupola and floated forward.

She still had a lot to learn but Abigail was pleased the Commander was putting more trust in her. Now he had the young cadet distracted, it was time to give Major Dias something other than the external feed to watch.

"I'm reading a slight discrepancy in the air lines; check each individual tank pressure please Major."

"Checking tank pressures" Luis acknowledged.

Sage smiled to himself as the ship approached the northwest coast on Indonesia. If there was something there, he should be the only one to see it. His heart still began to beat a little faster as the location of the hidden Railgun came into view. There was no doubt about it now; sitting on the shore as large life, was the biggest supertanker ever built. He would have to make sure no one else ever set eyes on it.

"ABIGAIL; COME HERE AND LOOK AT THIS" Luis called out excitedly.

Sage hurried forward and gazed through the hatch; he had assumed Luis would switch over his main screen to check the tank pressures, but instead he had brought up the relevant information on the unused navigators screen.

"Dammit" he cursed as Abigail saw the ship her father was pointing at.

"It's still there; it wasn't destroyed" Luis blurted out "Your brother may not have died after all!"

"My BROTHER?" Abigail gasped as the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock slipped into a bird shaped spacesuit.

The Magpie took this precaution because of something very disturbing going on behind them, but Luis and Abigail soon became aware of it too when they heard the inner hatch to the ship close and seal. The most disturbing sound of all followed with the decompression hiss of the seal and the clunk of the unlocking clamps that held the nose capsule in place.

"THE ORION HATCH IS STILL OPEN!" Abigail cried out.

In a few seconds the two sections of the craft would separate and both of the capsule's occupants would be blown out into the vacuum of space.

* * *

 **Is it just me, or do you hate cliff-hangers as well?**


	46. Chapter 46

**New Zealand launched a rocket this week. So happy to see them moving forward and so disappointed to have a government who still refuse to move beyond the 1950s (sigh). I even thought of a great name for an Australian space agency (if we ever get one); it should be called the Australian Space Technology Research Association (A.S.T.R.O.).**

 **The only down side to this name is many people may think the agency was named after the Jetsons dog.**

* * *

Chapter 46

Out of the Fire and into the Frying Pan

In the early days of the Mars Evacuation Project, the engineers in charge of putting the plan into immediate action were always on the lookout for any shortcut they could use to keep themselves on schedule. To this end they would use as many 'off the shelf' components for their various machines as they could get away with. One of these components was a complete Orion Capsule, re-purposed as the Control Deck of the Mars Transfer Vehicle. It was the perfect choice with its high quality life support and control systems, and the only modification needed was the removal of the heat shield and fitting of an airtight hatch.

The hatch was necessary for the crew to gain access to the main body of the forward section and the heat shield would not be needed as the MTV had two separate Evacuation Pods; i.e. the strong and reliable Soyuz MS. Under normal circumstances, the two sections of the MTV could not be separated unless the hatches on both sides were sealed and locked but Commander Sages re-wiring modification fooled the system; to say it was unsafe would be the understatement of the century.

"QUICKLY ABIGAIL; OUT OF MY WAY" Luis Dias tried to manoeuvre himself from the pilot's seat.

Abigail could see her father would never be able to make it out of his seat in time so she kicked out in an upside down arc towards the back of the capsule. Unfortunately the hatch was of a double hinge design, meaning it could not simply be slammed shut but must be fitted into the doorframe straight and true. So Abigail knew she would only have one shot at getting it closed properly before the capsule completely decompressed; if the hatch jammed, they were both dead.

As soon as she reached the hatch Abigail pushed the outer edge with her left hand, turning it parallel to the rear of the capsule. She then slammed her right hand in the centre of the door just as the seal between the ship's sections gave way. With nothing to brace herself against, Abigail shot backwards until the velocity of the escaping air caught her and changed her direction once more. The hatch of course was caught in the same air rush and it slammed into the frame with such force, the entire capsule shook violently. In the split second the capsule was open, seventy percent of the air pressure escaped but it only took five seconds for the automated life support systems to bring back full pressure.

Luis Dias flew over his daughter to the closed hatch and grabbed the locking bar, twisting it a quarter turn to the right. With the door secured at last, he turned his attention to Abigail only to find her holding her right hand close to her chest as small drops of blood floated around her; Luis move quickly and with purpose as he drifted forward again. He switched on the air purge system to raise the capsule pressure a little; a special filter cover opened and began to draw the air back in taking any small floating object with it; including Abigail's blood. The sudden loss of pressure had played havoc with the both of them but the youngest one had suffered the most, having been caught up in the shockwave. There was bleeding from her nose, ears and even the corner of her eyes, as well as a badly sprained right wrist. Luis had also suffered some ill effects but was fortunate to come through their ordeal with only a bloody nose.

"Keep your eyes shut" Luis spoke softly as he tended his daughter injuries.

"It stings" she replied "and my ears won't stop ringing."

"I know Honey; I can hear it too. Your eyes will be fine but I want you to rest them until the stinging goes away, so I'm going to wrap this bandage over them."

"What happened Dad?" she asked as the tears started to well up in her eyes "Did Commander Sage really just try to kill us?"

Luis drew in a deep breath; he did not want to admit the truth but there was no way to sugar coat it.

"I'm afraid so my sweet; I don't think he expected us to find that ship."

"But it wasn't our fault" she replied "so why would he do such a thing?"

"At the moment I can only guess; but I have a few ideas as to why."

The capsule fell quiet for a moment as both members of the Dias family considered their future; or the lack of one.

"Dad..." Abigail said at last.

"Yes Abby?"

"We can't get out of this; can we?" she noted "We're going to die here."

"I'm not sure" Luis tried to think of something hopeful to say.

"We haven't got a heat shield, or parachutes either so going to Earth is out and I doubt Sage will let us re-dock with the Command Section again."

"I'm sure we'll think of something" Luis said, not wanting take away any hope Abigail may still have.

A desperate silence filled the capsule again and it was Abigail who broke it once more.

"Dad... you said HG could be alive; is there any way we could find out before we..." she could not bring herself to say the word die.

"Maybe..." Luis thought "I could try and contact the West Sumatran Railgun Complex; since that is where the ship is; they should know."

New ideas began to fill Luis's head.

"If the ship wasn't destroyed... I wonder if Professor Adisa is alive as well?"

Luis helped his daughter forward and placed her in the pilot's seat before he slipped into the left chair and put his headset in place, carefully positioning the microphone.

"Mars Transfer Vehicle calling Railgun Sumatra; Railgun Sumatra this is Luis Dias, over."

* * *

There was a minor commotion in the base when the urgent call went out.

"EMERGENCY EMERGENCY; DOCTOR SPENCER TO THE COMMS ROOM. BLUE DIAS TO THE COMMS ROOM. EMERGENCY" speakers bleared throughout the complex.

The tone in the announcer's voice put the whole base on edge and it only took a few seconds for people to start speculating about possible disasters. Sarah was working in her office so it did not take her long to spring to her feet and head for the door. Blue on the other hand had to deal with his trainees first.

"Okay then" he interrupted himself "It sounds like something rather horrid has struck the proverbial pitched rotating blades; so I'll end todays class a little early and I'll see you back here in three days... I assume."

As Blue ran off, everyone looked to Calla for some semblance of normality.

"Err... you're all dismissed" she shrugged before following Blue through the door with all speed.

He was only five hundred meters from the comms room and as he rounded the last corner, he could see Sarah ahead of him.

"Hurry up Blue" she called back as she allowed him to catch up.

The burst of extra speed Blue put on was wasted though, for when they both reached the door Peter Moke held up his hand to stop them.

"Just give Sarah a minute before you go in" he said to Blue.

Sarah Spencer looked a little confused but decided not to waste more time arguing about it; so she hurried through the door to discover what the problem was.

"Why did you call me if...?" Blue started.

"Sorry Blue but I think it's best if Sarah is briefed first" Peter noted "She is the boss after all."

Blue was about to agree, though somewhat reluctantly, when Calla caught up and the door reopened; without a word spoken, Sarah beckoned them in. What awaited him was something Blue had almost given up hope on.

"Luis Dias to Sumatra Base; please come in Sumatra Base."

"Is... is that... my Dad?" he asked.

Sarah did not answer him but simply donned her headset and pressed a button on the console.

"Sumatra Railgun to Luis Dias; we are receiving you."

"Oh thank God" Luis replied "Is Professor Adisa with you at present?"

"Negative; this is Doctor Spencer speaking."

"SARAH SPENCER? April gave you the baby. What happened to him? Is he alive?" the frantic father asked.

Sarah flicked a switch in front of her and motioned for Blue to approach.

"I've put you on an open comm line" she said "Go ahead; speak to your father."

"Err... hi Dad" he said nervously.

"Oh my God; is it really you Henry?"

Blue looked at Sarah in shock and did not know how to answer the voice on the radio.

"Yes he is the child born to you and April, but we did not know his name so well gave the nickname Blue" Sarah responded.

"Blue? I suppose you would like to know, your mother and I named you Henry Gerwin Dias. Henry was after my father and Gerwin was after your mother's grandfather, but we would often call you HG when we talked about you."

"Did... did you know I was here?" Blue asked.

"We both thought you were killed when the ship you were born on was destroyed, but when we saw that same ship on the shore near the Railgun Base, I knew we had to try and find out if you were alive. I must admit I am surprised to have found you so easily but before I go on, there is someone else here who would like to say hello."

"Mom?" Blues voice was almost a whisper.

"No but you're close" a feminine voice declared "I'm Abigail; your sister."

"I... have a sister?"

Blue found he could not hold himself up any longer and he sat down on the spot; he didn't have a chair behind him so the floor just had to do for now.

"Actually you have two but Saffy, I mean Saffron, is back on Mars with Mom... and she's pregnant too."

"My sister is pregnant? Blue gasped.

"No she's only nine years old going on ten; Mom's pregnant so we're going to have another sibling soon" Abigail corrected.

Calla knelt down and placed her hand on Blues shoulder; the news had come so thick and fast it was plain to see he was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

"H-How long before you have to go back?" he asked, hoping there would be time to talk some more with his new found family.

Much to everyones surprise, all communication ceased for over a minute until Blue could wait no longer.

"Dad... Abigail... are you still there?"

"Sorry son; I needed some time to think" Luis answered "When I called, I never imagined we would end up talking directly to you and... I'm afraid I have some very bad news."

Sarah and Calla both helped Blue to his feet as one of the comms officers rolled a chair to him. Everyone in the room found themselves leaning forward in anticipation of what Luis would reveal next.

"Abigail and I will not be returning to Mars as... unfortunately... we are stranded in orbit."

Blue and Sarah stared at each other, wondering what could have happened to put Blue's family in such a position.

"Can't you come back to Earth?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not son; we are in an old Orion capsule with no heat shield and no parachutes. When our life support runs out... I have to say... that will be it for us."

A veil of gloom fell over the room; the surprise and elation everyone had felt upon hearing from Luis and Abigail had turned into resignation of utter defeat. Blue rose from his chair and turned towards the door; he did not leave but instead paced glacially slowly away from the desk; nobody spoke until Peter approached Blue.

"I'm so sorry my brother" he tried to comfort the young man who just held up a hand for silence.

Peter glanced at Sarah but she just shrugged her shoulders. Another half minute later, Blue suddenly snapped back into existence and rush back to the desk.

"How much time do you have on life support?" he asked with urgency.

"Two days... three at the most" Luis answered "Plenty of time for me to tell you all about your family."

"Tell me all about it when you get here" Blue responded "I'm coming to get you."

* * *

 **So glad to get this chapter out at last (it was first written about 3 months ago) because I've been trying to get to this point ever since I came up with the first story outline.**


	47. Chapter 47

**Winter is here and my fingers are turning blue (brrrr). If only I could afford to head to the tropics for the next five months; pity I don't have the cash. But wait... what is this? It's an e-mail from a member of the Nigerian Royal Family asking for my help to transfer millions of dollars out of his country, and all he needs is my bank account details.**

 **How could I lose?**

* * *

Chapter 47

Desperate Times

"How?" Sarah gasped "How are we going to get them back?"

"We've got a fully operational Dream Chaser spacecraft sitting in Hanger 18" Blue stated.

"With none of the stabilisation fins fitted" Sarah pointed out.

"All three in the hanger and I'll get onto installing them right away."

"How would you transfer Luis and your sister onboard? If I remember rightly, the Orion docking mechanism isn't compatible with the Dream Chaser."

"We fit the External Aft-mounted Payload Carrier unit" Blue argued "It has a Universal Docking Adapter."

"Is the Payload Carrier in the complex?" Sarah wondered.

"I think it's still sitting in a shipping container, but I won't give up till we find it."

Sarah stoped protesting and slumped into a chair.

"We haven't even started extending the Railgun yet; you'd never survive the G-forces" she said after some thought.

"Nothing to stop us from firing at a safe velocity and using a Payload Assist Rocket to make orbit" Blue continued.

Sarah thought for a moment more before turning to Peter.

"Have you finished entering all the manifest data into the base computer?" she asked.

"All set" he smiled back.

"Check for the External Payload Carrier please" Sarah ordered.

Peter Moke pulled a chair up to a computer desk and began to type; a few seconds later he gave an un-wanted report.

"It's not here" he sighed "But we only found about eighty percent of the ships manifests so it's probably in one of the unlisted containers."

"But how could you find it without the container number?" Sarah asked "It would take months to go through every container on that ship."

"We wouldn't have to" Blue protested "If we check a container number and find it on the computer, then we know the EPC isn't in there; we only have to search the containers we don't have manifests for."

"That's still hundreds of containers amongst thousands on the ship" Sarah continued to find problems.

"We start in the area surrounding where the Dream Chaser was and work out from there. Look I know the odds are not good but I don't want to just give up and let my family die without trying to save them" Blue begged.

"Don't get me wrong Blue; I am NOT going to stop you" Sarah insisted.

"It sounds like you're trying to talk me out of it from my end" he replied.

"You may have surprised me at first but I'm just trying to think of all the problems we'll face so we can tackle them as we go and not get surprised by them later. If we're going into orbit to rescue Luis and Abby then I fully intend for all four of us to come back alive and un-injured."

"Four of us?" Blue gasped.

"You can't do this alone Blue" Sarah placed her hand on his shoulder "It would be hard enough for one person if the situation was close to normal, but this is all new and untried. We've never launched anything from the Railgun before except cargo pods and you know rendezvous and capture is not going to be as easy as it is on the simulator."

Even though he knew she was right, Blue had not expected such support for his plan.

"Thank you" he smiled.

* * *

Commander Sage had lost count of how many years had passed since his days on the aircraft carrier USS Ernie Jackson, but memories of his old posting came flooding back after he had jettisoned the nose capsule of the MTV with Luis and Abigail Dias still on board. However many years had gone by, it was also the same amount of time that had passed since he had been last called upon to do any wet work, and he had hoped those days were well and truly behind him. Now another decision had to be made; should he continue the survey or begin the return journey to Mars straight away? In the end, he decided it would be best if he reported in before taking any more action, but Olive Roux beat him to the punch when the communication system came to life.

It was difficult to have a conversation with the time delay over such a long distance, but he did his best.

"MTV receiving signal" he sent the first transmission.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?" Roux screamed "According to the MTV status screen, the nose section has been jettisoned with Luis and Abigail still inside and its hatch open!"

"It was necessary" Sage replied "Luis discovered the ship had not been sunk and was on the Indonesian shore near the Railgun. Adisa has been lying to you; they have the contents of the ship and must be planning to use it to invade Mars."

"What do you think April is going to do when she finds out two members of her family are dead? She is going to ask questions I won't... able... answer..."

Before Olive Roux could finish her argument, the signal died for a few seconds but when the video screen cleared, the visage of an elderly German gentleman had taken her place.

"What do you think you're doing Klein?" Sage sneered "You better get off this channel or you'll be in big trouble."

"Don't be ridiculous Sage" Florian sighed "I'm already in trouble, but you are the cause of it; and now we have to fix your mess yet again."

As he listened to Florian, a light came on inside Sage's head as he realised he was talking to a member of the Mars Deep Council. That was why Olive Roux was cut off; so she would not learn the truth about Klein.

"I hope you realise sir; I only did what I did to keep you all safe back on Mars" Sage said sincerely. "If Dias had brought word back about the ship, April would have found out her son was still alive and she would not have been the only person to be upset; this news could have been the start of a mutiny inside the Mars Base."

"Oh don't get me wrong Sage, we were not in a good position and I know something drastic would have to happen, but your choice of action has left us in a very difficult position. If you were to return to Mars now, everyone would be asking these questions; what happened on the MTV and why was Sage the only survivor?"

As soon as Florian made his point, Sage suddenly realised he did not have much time left as the Deep Council would not allow him to live. As the voice from Mars kept on talking, the commander grabbed the heaviest thing in arms reach and angrily smashed the video screen and the small camera above it.

"The members of Deep Council were already working on the problem the ships discovery presented, but now we feel we there is simply no other choice" Florian Klein's message continued.

In a few minutes, the members of the Deep Council would see Commander Sage lose his temper and smash the screen, but it would not concern them in the slightest. The time had come for the man who had killed on their behalf so many times in the past, to finally die himself. Not only could they not think of an alternative course of action, none of them really wanted to try.

"I would like to say we have been pleased with the work you have done for us in the past, but it would not be entirely true" Klein voice continued to echo through the MTV "so let's just simply say you did play an important role in the founding of the Mars Base and leave it at that for the sake of your place history. Goodbye Commander."

When Florian Klein had finished his speech, he pressed down on the touch screen built into his desk and sent a heavily encoded signal to the MTV. When the signal arrived a few minutes later, two things began to occur; firstly a series of valves began to open, venting the ships internal atmosphere out into space. As the air needed to sustain life slowly bled off, all of the hard drives and memory circuits in every computer system began to self wipe, leaving nothing behind but lifeless lump of manmade materials orbiting the Earth.

On one hand the problems of the Deep Council had been solved but on the other hand, Florian still had to tell April about the death of two more members of her family; it was a task he was loathed to do.

* * *

Back on Earth everyone was beginning to realise how difficult it would be to mount their planned rescue in less than a month; if they had a week would be nice, but they all had to face up to the deadline of only two short days. Sarah soon found she could not hope to coordinate the entire operation herself but she needed to be on top of everything as it happened. One portable two way radio was not going to be able to keep up, so she soon found herself being followed everywhere she went by a small crowd of people whose sole task was to keep in radio contact with each department head and pass messages between them and their boss; Sarah referred to this group as her own personal set of Uhuras.

"They've run out of room in the ships hold" one of them shouted as Sarah hurried to the fabrication centre. "They want permission to start stacking them outside on the beach."

"WHAT! No way in hell" Sarah stamped her foot "If there's another tsunami we could lose the lot. Get as many trucks down to the ship and tell them to bring the containers at least ten kilometres inland; that's a more acceptable risk."

"The team down the tunnel say it will take too long to remove their equipment" another followed.

"They don't need to bring anything out" Sarah replied as she sprinted "Just take it all past the end of the Railgun and stow it all in the empty section of the tunnel."

"Willow Pascal wants to see you about fitting the solid booster when you can spare a minute" another shouted after the chief.

"Tell her to make an appointment with my social secretary" Sarah snorted.

"Huh?" the confused Uhura gasped.

Sarah stopped running for two seconds and sighed "Tell Willow I'll be there in half an hour."

Although she tried to stay true to her word, it was close to an hour before Sarah had managed to sort out the most urgent problems being thrown at her and catch up with Willow in the main fabrication room, where she was overseeing the construction of four cross struts.

"About time you got here" Willow barked.

Whatever you want, make it quick" Sarah demanded.

"If I do, you'll waste even more time with suggestions we've already considered; so just shut up and listen and I'll let Peter give you the bad news."

She led Sarah to a computer in a side room where Peter Moke was working furiously at the keyboard.

"We've linked our computer to the one on Luis's capsule and we've worked out the best trajectory for you and Blue to rendezvous with him in the shortest amount of time, but there's a little problem; the Solid Rocket Payload Assist Motor won't get you to a high enough orbit."

"Could we use a second one in a two stage configuration?" Sarah asked.

"Four months to fabricate an untested structural faring says no" Peter answered "and before you ask, we did consider using modified cross struts but it made the craft too unstable; you'd start tumbling end over end as soon as you fired the lower stage."

"Please tell me there is some good news now."

"I wouldn't call it good Sarah, but it's not as bad as it could be" Willow tried to smile but could only come up with a half smirk.

"In order for a single PAM rocket to lift you up to a higher orbit where you can dock with the Orion, we need to hold off from firing it until you are in the upper atmosphere. This means we will have to increase your velocity before you leave the Railgun" Peter revealed.

"This higher velocity of yours; what sort of G's are we talking about pulling during launch?" Sarah asked nervously.

"Let me put it this way" Willow interrupted "I'd wear earplugs if I were you, to prevent your brain from squeezing out of your auditory canal."

"Please don't tell me we're looking at a no win situation here" Sarah sighed.

"It all comes down to weight" Peter noted "The heavier the ship, the more velocity you will lose before you fire the solid. Every additional gram equals more G's inside the Railgun; so every unnecessary piece we can strip out of the ship internally, gives you a better chance of surviving longer than thirty seconds."

"I've also asked for a list of the equipment you'll be taking to see what you can do without and the first thing that leapt off the screen and slapped me in the face, was the two person inflatable life rafts" Willow pointed to the screen "Life rafts... in space?"

"There is a very high chance we will have to make a water landing" Sarah revealed "There's no telling if we'll find a suitable runway."

"Well I suggest you take only one and use it as a floatation device for four people instead of a boat for two. Now how about the solar panels on the External Payload Carrier" Willow asked "I doubt you'll be in orbit long enough to need the extra power."

"We won't" Sarah agreed "Battery power will be more than enough so as soon as it arrives from the coast, remove them along with every internal cover panel; we only need the EPC for the universal docking adaptor."

"I'll see if I can shave some weight from the detachable hypersonic nose cone" Peter suggested.

"Anything you can lose without killing us is okay with me" Sarah admitted as several Uhuras vied for her attention.

* * *

 **Well things did not work out well with the Nigerian Prince so I guess I'll just have to endure the cold and be happy we don't have snow here, but wait... what is this? It's another e-mail from a company called West Excelsior Enterprises advising me to invest in their real making gold mining operation. With such bad spelling and un-readable sentence structure, they must be on the level.**

 **So if you don't see a new chapter next week it will be because I am now rich and have moved to a resort somewhere warm and sunny (now where did I put my ukulele?)**


	48. Chapter 48

**Been so busy this week, I forgot to post this chapter yesterday (oops... sorry).**

 **I've always enjoyed a good 'Real Life' joke, like when someone near my home wrote Hammer Time on the bottom of a stop sign (think about it), but I was blown away when I saw someone's computer keyboard with the words 'The Final Frontier' printed on the space bar. Also on another stop sign a few streets away were the words 'In the name of Love'; neat.**

* * *

Chapter 48

Noble Sacrifices

Preparations for the unscheduled launch continued on every front, even for those without a specific related task. The group of Robotics Engineers Emerson had been working with, were now part of the team removing containers from the ship while Doom and many other people from the fleet were involved with the search for the elusive External Payload Carrier. Even food preparation had become a vital job for since nobody had the time to take normal meal breaks, food had to be easy to transport in bulk and mostly eaten on the run with only one free hand.

With only thirty five hours left on the countdown clock, Ursula Linwood used this task as an excuse to interrupt her daughters work in the staging area of the central manufacturing complex; she found Calla inside the Dream Chaser spacecraft recording pressure readouts.

"Starboard nose B nozzle sealed" she reported "Line holding 90% pressure."

"Purge line and switch to C" Blues voice drifted up from beneath the floor.

Calla flicked one of the overhead switches up and watched as the corresponding numerical readout began to drop.

"Can I interrupt you for minute" Ursula asked, not realising she had already done so.

"Hi Mom" Calla said without turning "We just have to finish this set before I can shut the system down."

"Umm, alright dear" Ursula replied as she sat down inside the spaceship.

This was the first time Calla's mother had seen the small craft Sarah and Blue would hopefully be taking into orbit; she found it to both impressive and frightening. Random strange sounds were coming from various unseen places, making the machine sound almost alive and far from safe. A rather horrific squeal and growl made Ursula jump when Calla flicked the next switch down.

"What was that?" she gasped.

"Just a gas line pressurising" Calla said calmly "Soon you'll hear a manoeuvring thruster exhaust burst, so don't panic when you do."

"I... I wasn't panicking" Ursula protested "It just surprised me; that's all."

"Sure Mom" Calla smirked "Line C pressure at 90%."

"Begin test cycle" Blue called back.

The one second burst of gas from the nose of the ship made Ursula jump again, no matter how hard she tried to stay calm.

"25% check" Calla called out before a second, louder burst erupted.

"50% check."

Ursula had a feeling she knew what was coming up next.

"75% check."

She was right.

"100% confirmed" Calla said with a grin after the loudest burst of all.

"All joint seals holding" Blue reported "Shut off line."

"Starboard nose C nozzle sealed" Calla reported "Line holding 91% pressure."

"Purge line and give me a minute to get over to the port side" Blue grunted.

"Don't bother Blue, dinner is here; so hurry up and get out here or I'll eat yours too" Calla smirked.

"I don't doubt it for a minute" Blue answered from the safety of the lower crawl space.

"You'd better move to the left a bit Mom" Calla suggested.

Ursula was unsure why but she moved over anyway, just before the section of floor beneath her feet lifted up to reveal a sweat covered young man.

"Whew; it's stuffy down there" Blue declared as he climbed out.

He tried not to let the stress show as he took a bite of sandwich; there was so much preparation to fit in to a very limited amount of time but with everyone working so hard, Blue did not want to let his fear of failure show to those nearby. He did his best to keep him mind firmly focused on whatever job was in front of him but at the completion of each task, his mind instantly filled with images of his father and sister slowly dying a thousand kilometres above the surface of the Earth.

"Thanks for the food" he smiled warmly at Calla's mother before crawling back down beneath the floor.

"You're very welcome" Ursula replied before leaning towards her daughter.

"I'm not sure about what he's got you doing here" she whispered to Calla "but this machine doesn't look or sound... safe."

"Mom, you will find this spaceship is many things; like strong, impressive, versatile and flexible, but safe? Forget it; the things I've learnt in the last month about the life support systems, navigation, various pressurised gasses, not to mention the stresses it has to go through during launch and re-entry, make it almost as dangerous as facing down a tsunami at sea."

"I'd say it's far more dangerous" Ursula insisted "and I think it would be best if you took on something a little less risky."

Blue called out his readiness so with him in position, Calla began the test cycle.

"Mom we went through all this when I said I wanted to go on the Star Runner with Dad and Emerson, and you said I would be safer on one of the bigger ships; nowhere is safe."

"But now we're in this massive underground complex and I thought it would be best if you waited until you were a little older before you started with the risky behaviour again."

"This place is good Mom, but you know it isn't 100% safe so the more time I put into learning about this equipment and how to operate it properly, the better the chances of long term survival there will be for all of us. I've worked very hard ever since Blue asked me to help him train everyone, so please do not make trouble for me now; especially when people's lives are on the line."

"I'm not making trouble" Ursula scolded "I just wanted to talk to you about other possibilities."

As Calla and Blue continued to run through the test cycle, Ursula knew she should leave them to concentrate, but she could not help but just sit and stare in wonder just a little longer. Even though she had only just turned fourteen, Calla had suddenly developed a new maturity and she could not help thinking it was mostly due to the influence of Doctor Sarah Spencer. Ursula had been overjoyed to see her children again when she finally arrived at the complex and she was fascinated to hear the whole story of their arrival. Calla may have been sitting by her side while all the facts were related to her, but she still felt very tense when Maynard told her about the search for their missing daughter.

Calla also spoke with excited enthusiasm about her fall into one of the deepest parts of the Railgun and it soon became obvious from the way she spoke, the young girls rivalry with her brother had been quickly been transferred to Blue. A sad fact about parenting is no matter how well a mother instructs and advises her children, it will often take a second voice saying the exact same thing to get the message across; so Ursula was very happy about the way Sarah had managed to get Calla to look at the person she was in conflict with and consider their point of view as well as her own.

It was almost as if Sarah could sense Ursula's thoughts for at that very moment, a small crowd crossed the staging area of the central manufacturing complex, and the leader of the project crawled through the rear hatch into the small spaceship.

"Where's Blue?" she asked.

"Hiding from you" Calla smirked.

"And doing an excellent job of it too" a muffled voice declared from beneath the floor.

Sarah knelt down and lifted one of the panels to discover a pair of feet.

"How much longer are you going to be down there?" she asked.

"No more than ten minutes at the most" Blue replied.

"Good; as soon as you're done, we need to strip as much weight as we can from the ship in order to get into a higher orbit."

"We'll get right on it" Blue replied.

"Can I steal one of those?" Sarah asked when she saw the plate of sandwiches Ursula had.

"Help yourself; I've got a food trolley full of them."

"Thanks for all your help" Sarah said as she grabbed a delicious looking sandwich "We normally all help out in the kitchens but with so little time..."

"No problem" Ursula smiled "although Maynard has done so many dishes recently, his hands are in a state of permanent prune."

"You should be proud of your daughter" Sarah remarked as another manoeuvring thruster gave a small test burst "It's incredible how much she has learnt in the last month."

"Mom thinks I'm going to get killed doing all this" Calla sniffed.

"That's not true" Ursula protested "I just don't feel comfortable about a these complicated machines."

"Sailing across the Tasman Sea was way more dangerous" Calla insisted.

"Probably true dear, but sailing we both know; not this."

"Look Mom, I've been listening to Willow, Blue, Peter, Sarah and all the others who have been teaching us and I've work hard to be the Instructors Assistant and Guinea Pig; I've gone way beyond where Blue expected me to be by now and I like to think I've earned the right to choose my own path. Also I've got lots of very brainy and experienced people keeping me on the straight and narrow so please promise me you won't try and stop me from doing this" Calla begged.

Ursula felt a little shocked. Callas speech was not the normal eye rolling 'whatever' excuse she normally gave when her mother tried to talk to her. This was the tone of someone who had finally pulled her socks up and did not want to be seen as merely an irresponsible child anymore.

"I'm not going to try and stop you" Ursula protested "Help me out here Sarah."

"Sorry Mrs. Linwood but I don't think I should stick my nose into family matters; in any case, we were probably not the best parental role models. Professor Adisa and I would take Blue everywhere in the complex even before he could walk; so he grew up with everything from industrial scale machines to explosive chemicals."

"And he turned out okay" Calla interjected "Apart from his habit of saying what he's thinking way too much."

"Alright... I give up" Ursula sighed "I'll just have to accept you're not a little girl anymore and trust you not to go beyond your capabilities."

"Thanks Mom" Calla smiled.

"Just be home by dinner time."

"Oh what a pity" Calla did a kind of smiley frown "You were doing so there well for a minute but then you just had to switch back into Mom Mode."

* * *

"Hi Dad" Abigail greeted as her father removed the bandage wrapped around her face "You look terrible."

"So no trouble with you vision?" Luis asked.

"No but my eyes still sting a bit."

"No surprise there since the blood in the corner of your eyes boiled briefly" Luis explained "It was fortunate you were so quick with the hatch."

"It didn't feel hot though" Abigail noted "it felt kind of... fizzy."

"I'm going to clean off the dry blood and then replace the bandage" Luis informed her "I think it would be best if you rested your eyes for a while longer; you want to have clear vision when you see your brother for the first time, don't you?"

"Do you really think he'll be able to save us?" Abigail asked.

"I am counting on it my darling. When I've finished with your eyes Abby, I'm going to fit your gloves and helmet; if the air in the capsule gets too thin, we'll be able to last another six hours inside our suits. When the time comes, just lock the visor down and turn the valve on your chest as soon as you hear the CO2 alarm."

"I know how the pressure suit works Dad" Abigail grinned.

"Of course you know how the suit works" Luis agreed "I just wanted to be sure you were safe."

Abigail would not have been smiling if she could see behind her seat, where the life support pack from her father's suit had been connected to hers, giving the young astronaut all of Luis's air supply and a full twelve hours of extra survival time.

"There... all done" Luis smiled when he had finished cleaning Abigail's face.

As he wrapped a fresh bandage over her eyes, Luis hoped and prayed his son would arrive before the air in the capsule became too toxic but if he didn't, it felt good to know Abigail would have enough air for the extra time she would need to await the rescue.

* * *

 **I have finally decided what I want to do when I retire in about 5 to 10 years. I'm gonna spend the warm months on the southern coast, sailing and volunteering on the local tourist train, and the winter months hunting for meteorites in the central deserts.**

 **What fun.**


	49. Chapter 49

**I was about to say thank you to Vin for the review when I remembered s/he isn't going to read this one yet, but wait till it is finished. So when you do get here, thanks for the good things you said back in June 2017.**

 **Congrats to Stripesicles222 for your great achievement in graduating (so proud of you) and I hope this chapter doesn't upset you or anyone else too much.**

* * *

Chapter 49

Last Rush

The truck's suspension creaked loudly as yet another shipping container was gently lowered into position over the rear axles.

"I need to refuel so I'll take this container all the way back to base" the driver told Sid as he fastened the load securely.

As the truck pulled away from the ship few minutes later, Sid considered what the driver had said. He knew their fuel supplies were limited so he decided to put some mental effort into solving the problem but before Sid could get too far into his imagination, the overhead crane brought in another container.

"That was quick" he said as Doom approached the bow of the ship with her clipboard.

"This one is full of raw materials for the Additive Manufacturing Machines; also we've come across a group of eleven containers not on any manifest list, so things may get a little cramped for space up here" she explained.

"Damn!" Sid cursed "And I'm down three trucks."

"Three?" Doom exclaimed "What have you been doing to them?"

"Two are refuelling and one split a radiator hose."

"How long till the next one arrives?" she asked.

"Ten minutes" Sid answered "hopefully sooner."

Doom took the small radio from her belt and made a quick call to the container searchers deep in the ship.

"Don't send anymore containers forward for the next fifteen minutes guys; we're short of trucks at the moment" she reported.

"We only need one" Emerson replied.

Sid and Doom looked at each other, slightly confused until the penny dropped.

"You found the External Payload Carrier?" Doom checked to see if she understood what Emerson was saying.

"One EPC on its way forward as we speak" the smile in Emerson's voice was obvious to all.

"EeeeYES!" Sid cried out as he leapt up.

It took over three and a half hours to get the container back the Railgun complex, as well as another four hours to unpack the EPC and get it to the staging area. A small crowed of engineers immediately swooped upon it and began stripping every un-needed part from the unit; each piece was carefully weighed and recorded before being placed aside.

"It's still too heavy" one of them called out to Sarah "I think we could get away with removing the forward hatch though."

"I do believe we'll need the hatch to keep us alive" she replied sarcastically.

"Not really" another argued "the rear hatch on the Dream Chaser will isolate the ship from the External Payload Carrier and the rear hatch on the EPC will keep it pressurised till you've docked with the Orion capsule. When you've transferred both souls from the capsule, you have to jettison the EPC before re-entry so it won't matter if it depressurises."

"And the hatches are very heavy" the first added.

"Okay then, lose it" Sarah relented.

As she continued to oversee the final preparations of the craft, Doctor Quill Vieira made a surprise visit. He called for Blue to join them before he laid down the law.

"You may not have been aware of it, but I've been keeping a close eye on you two for the last few days. Launch time is fast approaching and neither of you have had a full sleep period since the surprise call from Luis."

"You really can't expect us to go to sleep for the next eight hours" Blue protested.

"No but I do expect you to both lay down and take a thirty minute power nap" Quill ordered "I don't want either of you to make a fatal error in space because you brain is all foggy."

"But Doc…"

"No buts Sarah; you may be in charge now but I'm responsible for keeping you and everyone else alive and healthy. Blue; you've been working with Calla since all this began, but do you know where she is now?"

"Err… last I saw her, she was in the Dream Chaser" he replied.

"Yes and she is still there, in the pilots chair, snoring like a lumberjack; she's a strong girl but fatigue is much stronger. It's a foregone conclusion that you will both pass out due to the extreme acceleration of the launch and I don't want you to find yourselves unable to regain consciousness for an extended period because you're both overtired; so take these and go lay down."

The doctor handed each of them a small grey egg, a little bigger than a tennis ball.

"What are these?" Blue asked.

"They'll help you switch off and rest; when you ready to sleep just press down on the top and it will emit the sound of falling rain. Thirty minutes later it will beep to let you know it's time to get up; you should be able to think much clearer and you'll be ready to go."

"I don't suppose you will be reasonable about this?" Sarah snorted.

"This is reasonable; I really wanted to knock you out with a sedative and if you don't follow doctor's orders, I will."

Back in his quarters, Blue knew he would not be able to sleep but the sound of the rain helped to clear his mind of all thoughts about the launch preparation and he even began to dream about being with his father and sister for the first time in his life. The thought was so enticing but it also made him wonder about how long it would be before he could be with the rest of his family. It felt to Blue as if only a few minutes had passed when the little egg beeped and he was shocked to realise he had fallen into a short but deep sleep.

A lot had happened in the time he had been away. The EPC had been connected to the rear of the Dream Chaser and three of the four cross struts holding the mushroom shaped solid rocket Payload Assist Module were in place. The cover faring for the EPC and solid rocket were standing by, ready to be fitted as soon as the fourth cross strut was fastened. The Dream Chaser itself looked very different with its Hypersonic nose in place and as Blue pondered the whole package, he suddenly noticed Calla standing on the opposite side of the spaceship concentrating on something, but Blue could not see what it was.

"What on Earth…" he smiled when he had dodged all the busy engineers and made it around to her.

With one last stroke of a scavenged paint brush, Calla finished her work.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

"Yes" Blue responded "I like it very much."

Calla stepped back to admire her handiwork; there on the port side of the small spacecraft she had painted the words Star Runner II.

* * *

It had felt quite stuffy in the orbiting Orion capsule for a while now, so it came as no surprise when the CO2 alarm beeped. Luis watched as his daughter lowered her visor and slid the lock closed before twisting the valve on her chest; as soon as he was satisfied all was well he looked down at the helmet in his hands. From her seat on her father's left, Abigail heard the sound of his visor closing without realising it was not on his head.

"I might try and get some sleep" Luis said "I want to be ready when your brother gets here."

"Okay Dad; sleep well" Abigail replied.

Before the air became too contaminated for him to stay conscious, Luis checked the communication system. He made sure the locator beacon was transmitting so the rescue craft could easily home in on the capsule, but he also turned down the receiver volume to zero; someone was bound to try and contact them before docking and Luis thought it would be best if Abigail did not discover he was dead while she was still alone. He hated to leave her like this, but he just had to give her the best chance of survival. He thought about the three girls he loved so much, as well as the son he would never meet and child he would never know.

'Forgive me' Luis thought as he closed his eyes.


	50. Chapter 50

**Greetings to my friends all over the world and perhaps one day, on Mars. Well here we are at another little milestone in the story (yay) and just like all the others, I thought we'd never get here.**

 **Have fun, Marty.**

* * *

Chapter 50

Parental Nightmares

"I never expected to find myself wearing one of these" Sarah noted as she was helped into her pressure suit.

"I'd always hoped to someday, but this is way sooner than I expected" Blue added.

Calla watched in fascination as a small crowd of people fitted the various sections that made up each suit.

"So you can survive in space if you're wearing one of those?" she asked.

"Not outside the ship" Blue explained "You would need something with a lot more insulation and radiation protection. In one of these you would be safe in a low pressure environment; even in a total vacuum if you were connected to life support."

As Blues helmet was fitted, he suddenly felt the reality of the situation sink in; he was about to travel into orbit... or so he thought until Peter Moke burst into the room.

"We've got a problem" he blurted out.

"Sorry Peter but I'm not in the market for any more problems" Sarah noted "I've got more than I can handle now."

"Then you're not going to like this one; the ships still too heavy."

"Then find something else to remove" Blue snapped.

"I'm open to suggestions" Peter huffed "We've removed so much, the next step would be sandblasting the paint off the hull."

Thinking Peter was serious, Calla felt disappointed when she thought of the spacecrafts new name being stripped away.

"So how much more weight do we have to lose?" Sarah asked.

"You should make it to the right orbit if we cut your legs off" Peter joked.

"Could we wait until the capsules orbit deteriorates a little?" Blue checked.

"It would be another week" Peter replied "and by then it would be too late."

"I'll go alone then" Blue stated.

"Oh no you won't" Sarah insisted "There is no way you would be able to do this on your own."

"Come on Sarah; these kind of craft used to rendezvous and dock autonomously all the time" Blue protested.

"With experienced people in constant contact from both the ground and from the ISS; we wouldn't be able to help from here and who knows if the Orion will be capable of autonomous docking any way? Not to mention the fact that the Dream Chaser we're taking was built before you were born."

"Star Runner II" Calla interjected and immediately wished she hadn't considering the gravity of the situation.

"Sorry Blue but I'm not letting you go alone" Sarah insisted.

"Wait a minute" Calla interrupted again "I could go; I may not know the ships systems as well as you Sarah but I know it well enough; and I'm smaller than you."

"Oh hell no!" Sarah declared flatly.

"She could do it" Blue tried to get Sarah to consider the possibility "I could easily take the first seat and Calla knows all the co-pilot procedures; when it comes to space training, she always follows orders without hesitation and really does know how to manoeuvre in three dimensions."

"No... no... no! And what would your mother say?"

"She wouldn't say anything" Calla admitted "She'd just explode."

"Exactly my point" Sarah nodded.

"But you were there when she said I could choose my own path: Earth or space."

"I don't think she expected you to be going so soon" Sarah sneered.

"Nobody expected this; I'm not saying we don't tell her but you're the boss Sarah and it's you who has to let me go."

"Have to?" Sarah questioned.

"Or let Blues father and sister die."

She did not like the thought of sending two such young people on such a mission, but Sarah had to admit she had run out of viable options.

"Get Ursula and Maynard down here" Sarah barked.

Calls were made and people ran about in near panic until the Linwoods were found. When Calla's parents finally arrived in the staging area, they were told about the latest developments along with their daughters offer to help; it was met with a familiar response from Ursula.

"OH HELL NO!"

"Mom we talked about this before" Calla noted.

"WE TALKED ABOUT TRAINING AND HELPING OUT HERE; NOT GOING INTO SPACE!"

"The training was all for going into space; and please don't shout" Calla insisted.

"Yes going into space eventually, but not today" Ursula continued to protest.

"If we don't go soon, two people will die" Calla continued.

"And how is your death going to help them?"

"We're not planning to die Mrs. Linwood" Blue said sincerely "We fully intend to come back alive and well."

"Calla is too young to pilot a spaceship; she's only fourteen" Ursula pointed out.

"Abigail is thirteen" Blue pointed out.

"But she grew up in space."

"No, my sister grew up on Mars and this was her first trip to Earth."

"And looked how well that turned out for her."

"That's hardly fair Mom; it wasn't travelling through space that put them in danger, another member of the crew tried to kill them to cover up a conspiracy."

"What's to stop him from killing you too?"

"He'd be on his way back to Mars by now" Sarah noted, unaware of the death sentence passed by the Mars Deep Council on Commander Sage.

"You're not going to talk me out of this Mom."

"I'm not trying to talk you out of it, I'm telling you outright; you are not going and that is final."

He did not want to admit it, but deep down inside Blue knew this would happen and so no matter how difficult it would be, he would have to try and manage on his own. He walked over to Calla, wanting to thank her for trying and tell her everything would turn out fine, but the young lady had not finished yet. She approached her mother, took her hands and spoke very softly.

"It's true what we want to do carries with it a great deal of risk but as you pointed out earlier, I am still very young and I have my whole life ahead of me. Can you please try and imagine what my life will be like if every day, I have to live with the thought that two people were dead because I didn't even try to save them? I love you Mom but I honestly don't think I could live with the shame. Even back in New Zealand, before we decided to try and find a better life elsewhere, you and Dad always made it clear to me. We have to work with others and not put our needs and our safety ahead of everyone else's; and that was why we were the forward scouts for the fleet. Please Mom… I have to do this."

It had been a long time since Ursula had felt pain like this. She didn't cry; instead she threw her arms around her daughter and sobbed uncontrollably.

"I know I haven't said much" Maynard spoke up at last "but of course I agree with your mother and I too had every intention of stopping you when I found out you what you were planning to do."

There was no sign his wife was about to let go of Calla, so he just placed his hand on the young girls head.

"As scared as I am right now, I know exactly what you mean when you talk about having to live with your decisions, good and bad, for the rest of your life. I just hope you come back safe and live a long life with no regrets."

"NO!" Ursula cried out again, unable to accept what was happening "YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS!"

Calla pushed herself away and stormed over to Blue; she grabbed his hand and dragged him back towards her mother. She then thrust her hand under Blue's chin, pushed his head back and pointed to the small scar at the top of his neck.

"You know what this is, don't you Mom!"

"Of course I know what it is but it's no reason to..."

"You've heard the stories; some of the people who built this place were murdered to keep it a secret. The others who were shut in were scared for their lives and expected heavily armed soldiers to one day find them and slaughter them all. To keep themselves safe, they could have just locked me up when I accidentally discovered them and you would never have known what had happened to me; Dad would have assumed I had died or drowned somewhere. But they didn't; did they? Professor Adisa and Doctor Spencer bent over backwards to keep me safe and return me to you; and then they did nothing but help us with no strings attached. We always had the choice to stay and help or leave, so I don't think it's right for us to just accept their help and not accept the same risks they are taking; and the only reason we are taking such a risk is because people lives are on the line. I'm sorry Mom... but I'm going... and that's final."

Hardly able to stand, Ursula fell into her husband's arms and fell silent.

"It's all your fault" she insisted as she beat her fist on Maynard's chest. "You couldn't just sail on by; you just had to investigate that damn ship."

* * *

With the new crew members participation finalised at last, the only tasks left were to fit Calla into a pressure suit, move the spacecraft to the end of the Railgun and wait for the wayward Orion capsule to be in the optimum position for a quick and easy rendezvous. The final tasks were simple in comparison to the first one though, because there was no suit small enough to fit Calla's 160 centimetre wiry frame. A workable solution was found by putting her in an old grey track suit supplied by Jeana Davy, under the smallest suit they had; but she still ended up looking a little bit like an orange snowman.

"When we finish extending the Railgun, launching people into space won't be anywhere near as difficult or dangerous" Willow explained as she fitted Calla's seat straps.

"Just don't use the word dangerous anywhere near my mother" Calla insisted.

"Considering how much time Calla has logged on the centrifuge, I don't expect her to have any trouble" Blue smiled.

"Don't count on it" Peter said as he stuck another EEG sensor on Blues forehead "The reason we had to drop the weight of the ship so much was so we could also drop the G forces you will experience from fatal, down to deadly. There's no way you'll be able to keep yourselves from passing out so if you haven't regained consciousness fifteen minutes after reaching orbit, we're going to take steps to revive you."

"What kind of steps?" Calla asked.

"Oh, just tiny insignificant miniscule little... electric shocks" Willow admitted.

"I'm sorry I asked" Calla sniffed.

"Okay I'm getting a strong reading from Blue" Doctor Quill Vieira's voice came from the flight deck comms.

"I'm almost done with Calla" Willow reported.

"Well get your butts moving" Sarah called from the control room "There's an excellent launch window opening in fifteen minutes."

"Hey Peter, if weight is so important couldn't you have left off the faring covering the External Payload Carrier?" Calla asked.

"If we did, the air vortices would tear off the solid rocket as soon as you exited the mouth of the Railgun" Peter explained.

"Ah... not good" Calla agreed "And I assume there's a similar reason for the pointy bit fitted to the front?"

"Hypersonic nosecone" Willow explained "Reduces drag and keeps you from getting overheated at low altitude where the air is thicker."

"When you've quite finished with todays lesson..." Sarah's voice echoed through the cabin.

"Hey Blue, tell her majesty we'll be right out" Willow said.

"And when you have, you can tell Princess Willow we've got an open channel here" Sarah replied.

"Whoops!" Willow grinned "Good luck you two."

The Dream Chaser itself was just over nine meters long but from solid booster to the tip of the hypersonic nose, the whole ship maxed out at just over twenty three meters. As Willow and Peter backed away from the ship, the overhead gantry crane lifted the unit to a thirty degree angle and moved it back into the Railgun Tunnel.

"Bring coils online" Sarah ordered as the spacecraft was lowered onto the track.

"We'll be sending you down in ten" she spoke into the microphone.

"Roger; all go from this end" Blue replied.

"I'm reading thirty thousand meters from point zero" Calla reported.

"Confirmed" Sid checked his screen.

Both Calla and Blue felt their stomaches lurch slightly as their ship began to travel back down the steep tunnel, in what could only be described as a controlled fall.

"Twenty nine thousand" Calla noted as their speed approached one hundred kilometres per hour.

"Open the gun barrel and all pressure release vents" Sarah ordered.

High on the top of Mount Singgalang the exit port of the Railgun slid aside as the massive steel doors on each side clanged and rumbled open, along with all the vents running down the mountain and through the forest to the beach thirty kilometres away.

"Fifteen thousand meters" Calla reported.

"Internal life support at optimum" Blue added.

"Staging area closed off" Sid reported.

"Release nitrogen gas" Sarah ordered.

"Seven thousand meters" Calla read off the computer screen as the ship began to slow.

The two first time astronauts felt themselves being pushed back in their seats in a small taste of what was soon to come.

"How are the capacitors holding up this time?" Sarah asked.

"Power flow to capacitors at 40% and all readings are clear."

"One thousand meters" Calla's voice sounded throughout the control room.

Outside the base, Maynard and Ursula stood with their son and a few others from the complex, most of whom had never seen a launch from outside before.

"Don't forget Mom; this thing makes the most incredible noise, but it doesn't mean anything is wrong" Emerson reminded her.

"One hundred and fifty meters" Calla reported as the ship slowed and eventually stopped.

"Switching to internal navigation" Blue added "Launch window is open; thirty seven seconds to optimal trajectory."

"Roger that Star Runner; counting down from thirty" Sarah reported.

"Capacitors at 102.3%" Willow noted.

"Twenty seconds."

"I've got a fault on vent 47L" Peter interrupted.

"Ignore it" Sarah insisted "Ten seconds."

"Acceleration program initiated" Sid reported.

"Five... good luck guys... two... one."

The first thing Ursula noted was the rumbling beneath her feet as the whole jungle began to vibrate. The first thing Calla noticed was her peripheral vision closing in until everything turned black; it was also the only thing she would ever remember about the launch when asked in the future.

* * *

 **In the plans I made for this story so long ago, this was where the first book was to end, but it was part of a daring escape from the EFA who had invaded the Complex and were shooting up the place. As you can see, a lot has changed since the first draft.**


	51. Chapter 51

**Another Sunday morning, another chapter to post. Although it is still a long way off, it is time to plan for the end of the story and I have about five different ideas its conclusion. Even I am wondering which way it will go.**

* * *

Chapter 51

Desperate Measures

The sound was like a short burst from a Gatling gun, constructed from the cannons of a World War II battleship (even though such a device was a physical impossibility) and even though she had been warned ahead of time, when Ursula heard the spacecraft carrying her daughter fired from the Railgun, she assumed the worst had happened.

"There they go" Emerson pointed excitedly at the sky.

When no one around her started panicking, Ursula realised the ship had not explode and Calla was still alive, but the Star Runner II was already too far away to be seen, although the white trail arcing to the east gave away its position to those on the ground.

"Doctor Spencer calling Maynard Linwood" the radio crackled.

Not expecting a call so soon, Maynard fumbled with the radio attached to his belt.

"Reading you Doctor" he answered.

"You'll be happy to know we're receiving a strong signal; breathing and heart rate looking good."

Ursula snatched the radio and shouted into it.

"Can we talk to them now?" she asked.

"I'm afraid it's way too early, but we'll let you know as soon as we make solid contact."

"You'd better" the frantic mother barked.

* * *

A spray of salt water hit Calla square in the face as she stood as the helm of the triple masted schooner. The heavy squall buffeted the ship causing bow to not only pitch up and down, but to turn in a circular motion making it next to impossible to keep a true course.

"It's getting worse Captain" a typical salty sea dog informed her.

"Reef the sails and prepare to come about" she ordered.

"Aye Captain but... we don't have any sails no more."

"What are you talking about Salty?"

Surprised at what she had been told by her subordinate, Calla looked up to see all the sails, along with the masts and foredeck, lifting up and swirling into a giant vortex in the sky. At the same time, forces she could not identify were squeezing her head so hard, she thought it was about to crack. As it that wasn't bad enough, her stomach seemed to have grown tired of its current location and had decided to take a little stroll somewhere. As she checked to see if any other organs were attempting to escape, a strange person who appeared part Picasso and part Dali started giving her orders.

"Come on Calla, open your eyes" Blue suggested as his face began to solidify. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a horse on a bicycle" she replied "Unsteady and a danger to anyone who comes near me."

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Blue asked.

"Nah you already did that joke back in chapter 22" Calla sniffed.

"A bit of a headache?"

"No thanks; I've already got a doozy" Calla replied. "So we didn't blow up then?"

"We made it safely to orbit" Blue informed her.

"Oh good; Mom will be pleased. Speaking of whom, have you made contact with Earth."

"Not yet" Blue admitted "I tried to contact the capsule but there was no response. The locator signal is strong and we'll see them soon, but I must admit I'm getting worried."

"Well if it's alright with you, I'll let everyone know we're okay while you keep track of our prey."

"Go for it" Blue agreed.

* * *

'BEEP!'

A small warning sounded in Abigail Dias's ear to let her know another hour had passed since she had activated her suits internal life support; it was the fifth beep.

"Are you awake yet Dad?"

Luis always was a heavy sleeper so Abigail was just glad she did not have to listen to his usual snoring.

"One hour left" she said even though he obviously wasn't listening.

The last few days for Abigail had been an absolute clichéd rollercoaster of emotion; from the exciting discovery of the ship, to the heart stopping fear of being cast off into space, the shock of talking to the brother she thought long dead, as well as the relief upon being told she and her father would be saved. Now with time rapidly running out for them, Abigail was glad her father was asleep so he would not have to face the fate about to come. She tried to be brave and just accept there was nothing more to be done, but a tear still moistened the bandage around her eyes.

BANG!

The shock of the collision was so great, Abigail could not stop herself from screaming in terror as the Orion capsule began tumbling over and over.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" Calla asked as she rubbed the lump on her head.

There should not have been a problem; both craft were lined up perfectly and all the computer readouts predicted a smooth docking.

"I don't know" Blue responded "the clamps didn't even get the chance to engage."

"Do we try again?"

Everything had gone so well since they had both regained consciousness; the Orion was precisely where they expected to find it and Calla was having very little trouble keeping up with Blues instructions and requests. Everyone on Earth was relieved to know there were no unexpected problems and Calla was even able to convince her mother not to worry excessively. The only concern (and it was a big one) was the continued lack of contact with the capsule; for nobody knew the receiver volume inside the Orion had been dropped to zero on purpose.

"Get back up here and we'll try and get a visual on the capsule" Blue ordered.

With a very limited air supply left for Luis and Abigail, Blue had made the decision to approach the capsule at the best angle for an immediate coupling. This meant as they drew closer, the only view available was the one through the rear docking camera. Once all the major manoeuvres had been completed, Blue sent Calla back into the External Payload Carrier so as soon as the docking clamps had locked on and the green light was given, she could open the hatches and flood the capsule with fresh air.

With both craft slowly coming together, Calla was actually enjoying the feeling of floating in micro gravity; her initial nausea had subsided and she felt fantastic. Blue was regularly calling out the closing distance measurements, but soon after she heard him say there was one meter to go, the collision had occurred and Calla had been thrown against the bulkhead.

"Pitch up 160 degrees" Blue said when Calla was back in her seat.

"Oh that does not look good" Calla gasped as they saw the spinning capsule.

Blue's heart jumped into his mouth as he realised he would not get another chance to try the docking again; but only a few seconds later the capsule automatic station keeping system kicked in and fired the manoeuvring thrusters, bringing the Orion back on its original heading.

"Thank goodness" Calla sighed "Do you want to try again?"

"Wait a minute" Blue said "something doesn't look quite right."

Without changing the angle of his ship, Blue brought the Star Runner in close only five meters from the other craft.

"What on Earth is that?" Calla asked when she got a close look at the Orion strangely conical docking hatch.

"Whatever it is, it's not part of the original design" Blue gasped "The Mars Transfer Vehicle is older than I am so I can only assume they had to make its docking equipment a little more robust over time."

"That hatch sticks out over half a meter; how are we going to get around it?" Calla asked.

"If we could be sure Dad and Abigail had full pressure suits on, we could just get close and open both hatches so they could float across; but if they don't, we'd kill them instantly."

"If only they'd answer the radio" Calla huffed.

* * *

On board the Orion, Abigail was beginning to give in to blind panic. Even though the capsule had stopped spinning, she could not be sure it wouldn't happen again and she was more than a little concerned about her father; no matter how heavy a sleeper he was, the collision should have woken him. She had no other choice but to get her vision back.

Abigail reached up to her visor and opened the locking mechanism. It was not easy to remove the bandage with her gloves on but she managed to force her fingers in the helmet slightly above her ears and drag it off. With the bandage gone, the pads covering her eyes floated off and she could see once more.

"DAD, NO!" she gasped when she saw Luis was not wearing a helmet.

In panic once again, Abigail began to fumble with the wrist locks on her gloves.

* * *

"I think I've got it" Blue said excitedly "The docking ring is still the same, it's just that weird heavy duty conical hatch. If we get rid of our hatch on the rear of the EPC, then there will be nothing for it to hit and both craft will be able to dock without any trouble."

"Are you sure it'll work" Calla looked sceptical.

"It's the best idea I can come up with for now" Blue admitted "Close the Star Runner's hatch."

Calla followed his order before returning to her seat, as the ship began to turn once more.

"Reduce the pressure in the EPC to 1%."

"Err... sorry but I don't know how to do that" Calla admitted.

"I'm not surprised really" Blue said as he reached across to Calla's screen "You've been doing so well, I keep forgetting you've only had a month's training and we haven't even touched on remote system operations yet."

With the pressure lowered and the rear of the ship pointed towards the Earth, Blue accessed the emergency systems, killed the safety over-ride and armed the explosive bolts on the EPC.

"Here we go."

A dull thud shook the small craft as the unseen door began its long journey back to the planet it had just come from. Not wanting to waste any more time, Blue turned the ship back into its docking position.

"Okay we're seventy three meters out" Calla reported.

"Let's get this done" Blue gritted his teeth and overrode the auto docking system.

He set the thrusters to give a slightly stronger burst and engaged the manual manoeuvring system.

"Two meters per second" Calla warned "aren't we going a tad too fast?"

Blue did not answer; he just watched the time clock while resetting the thrusters.

"Ten meters" Calla warned but Blue did not flinch.

After four seconds, he engaged the rear thrusters and one second later the two craft touched once again, but with a much more satisfying result.

"Clamps engaged" Calla noted "We've got a hard dock."

Without saying anything, Blue reached over to Calla's screen again to re-pressurise the EPC.

"Let's go" he said as he pushed himself out of his seat.

Calla followed close behind as they flew to the rear of the ship. Blue wrenched the hatch lock to the open position while the pressure inside the EPC was still at only 87%. Calla's ears popped as the pressure inside both sections equalised, but that was the least of their troubles. As soon as the hatch opened, they were greeted by the most horrendous screeching whistle coming from the rear of the EPC.

"Ugh... what is that noise" Calla winced as she blocked her ears.

Thinking fast, Blue moved back into the Star Runner and grabbed one of his pressure suit gloves. He then flew passed Calla to where the Orion was attached to the EPC and loosely ran the glove around the seal. When it reached the right point, the glove was pulled into the seal and the screeching ceased.

"We must have scored the surface of the seal when we collided with the capsule" Blue explained "it wouldn't be more than a scratch, but it was enough to allow some air to be forced out due to the lack of pressure outside the ship."

"And the glove is stopping the air from escaping?" Calla asked in amazement.

"No; it just disrupted the air flow and killed the noise" Blue explained as he worked on the Orion hatch "Tiny bits of the glove are already being shot out into space."

"Far out" Calla gasped.

With the noise problem temporarily fixed, Blue motioned for Calla to help him with the heavy duty hatch. They pushed it for a few seconds but it wouldn't budge.

"Time to get violent with it" Blue decided "Watch your fingers."

Floating up, Blue placed his feet on the locking bar while pushing up on the bulkhead. As soon as he felt firmly in place, he lifted his left foot and stomped on the bar. With a sharp crack, it finally gave and they were able to push it back inside the other craft. A burst of foul air struck as they floated into the Orion capsule where they were greeted by a disturbing sight.

Even though she was about to pass out, Blue's sister was desperately trying to reconnect one of the CO2 scrubbers to her father's suit, as he lay lifeless in his seat.

"Help me" Abigail begged just before she fainted.

* * *

 **I have recently leant that some people are like clouds; the day is bright and sunny when they go away.**

 **The bad thing is... I think I'm one of them.**


	52. Chapter 52

**The older I get, the more I enjoy a good afternoon nap. But since 'nap' sounds so wimpy, I like to call it a horizontal life pause. If you think I'm being lazy, remember this; Rabbits, Dogs and Cats all run and jump and live for 10-15 years while Tortoises do nothing and live for 150 years.**

 **Get the idea?**

* * *

Chapter 52

Unequal and Opposite Reaction

"Help me get them into the Star Runner" Blue cried out as he floated into the capsule.

Calla stayed in the EPC as Blue passed his sister through the hatch before going back for his father. By the time he had released the seat straps and guided Luis forward, Calla had already fitted Abigail with an oxygen mask and was retrieving a second for the new arrival.

"Has he got a pulse?" she asked as Blue placed two fingers on the side of Luis's neck.

"It's very slow, but it's there" he replied several seconds later.

"Do me a favour and close the hatch" Blue asked as he checked on his sister "Then we'd better report in."

Abigails pulse was steady and her breathing was strong so Blue returned to his father. He could see some colour returning to Luis's cheeks and his chest was moving with each new breath.

"I just hope we got to them in time" Blue sighed.

"I'm sure we did but..."

Blue looked up to see Calla was having a great deal of trouble pulling the rear hatch closed. He soon noticed the slight hiss every time she came close.

"Oh no!" he gasped and moved back to help her.

"Grab the locking mechanism and turn it when the hatch is closed" Blue ordered.

With Calla in place and ready to go, Blue pushed the door half open before pulling with all his might. With the momentum of its mass behind it, the hatch slammed hard into its frame but Calla still could not get the lock to engage.

"What's wrong with it?" she gasped.

"It's our tiny pressure leak in the EPC" Blue revealed "When the door is almost shut, the higher pressure in the Star Runner keeps the hatch from closing completely."

"Could we lower the pressure a little to compensate?" Calla asked.

"The leak would negate any advantage immediately" Blue shook his head "To make it work we'd have to lower the pressure to zero."

"You said these suits could handle it" Calla protested.

"Yes they can" Blue admitted "But I don't have a complete suit anymore."

Calla wondered what he was talking about until she remembered the glove slowly being torn apart and ejected into space in the tiniest of pieces.

"So what are we going to do?" Calla asked in near panic.

"That's just it" Blue admitted "I don't know."

They both looked around the Star Runner, hoping for inspiration but none was forthcoming.

"So the problem is we can't seal the hatch because our air is pushing its way through to the EPC where the pressure is always lower because of the leak."

"That about sums it up" Blue shrugged.

"Then we need to raise the air pressure inside the EPC" Calla put forward.

"Good idea but the EPC has no air supply of its own and the Orion is dead empty" Blue noted.

Without saying why, Calla started undoing the midriff ring on her pressure suit.

"Help me with the back of this thing" she snapped.

"What are you doing?" Blue asked in surprise.

"Being brilliant" she replied.

He wasn't sure why, but Blue did as he was asked and helped Calla separate the two main halves of her suit. When they were parted, she reached in and untied the waist cord of her borrowed sweat pants.

"Okay put me back together again" she ordered after removing the cord completely.

She handed the cord to Blue before taking the hood cord from around her neck.

"What are you going to do with these" he asked as he considered the two cords in his hands.

Without answering, Calla floated over to the port side and undid the straps holding their inflatable life raft in place. As she removed it and pushed it into the EPC, a look of wonder crept over Blues face until it slowly morphed into the broadest smile Calla had ever seen him give.

"Oh I take back what I once said about you being cute" Blue smiled "You are gorgeous!"

"Yes" Calla agreed "Yes I am."

"Hold the door firmly" she said as she took back the cords "I don't want to get trapped outside the Star Runner."

"You can count on me" Blue responded.

When she was inside the External Payload Carrier, Blue pulled the hatch, but with his foot jammed in to keep it from closing all the way.

"Close off the Orion if you can" he called through the gap "It should help raise the pressure if we reduce the area to be filled."

"I'm on it" Calla agreed.

With the Orion hatch closed, Calla tied one end of the first cord to the locking bar and the other to the base of the life raft. Now came the tricky part as she used the second cord to connect the Star Runner's hatch to the release tab of the life raft without setting it off too early. Taking great care to make it as tight as she dare, Calla breathed a sigh of relief when her task was done.

"Okay I'm coming back in" she called as she slowly opened the door.

"Right then" Blue took a deep breath "You know what to do with the locking lever don't you?"

"I've git a pretty good idea" Calla crossed her fingers "One shot."

"One shot" Blue agreed "On three then."

"On three" Calla repeated.

Blue could feel the stress building in his chest; they had to get this right or it was all over.

"One..." he began "two... THREE!"

With all his might, he pulled at the door and brought it firmly into place. At precisely half a foots width from the frame, the life raft's compressed air canister released creating one of the most useless forms of transport since the horse bicycle. As the EPC was filled with an oval rubber doughnut, Calla wrenched the locking lever up until she heard the bolts move into place.

"We did it" she gasped with relief.

"Not quite" Blue could feel his heat sink when the Lock light failed to illuminate.

Calla felt like punching something hard, but instead she leaned her shoulders against the bulkhead and thrust her left foot hard against the offending lever. With a metallic clack, the bolts rammed home and the light shone green.

"HA you did it!" Blue exclaimed with delight.

Excitedly he threw his arms around her and kissed her forehead, but the broad grin on his face soon vanished as Blue went tumbling head over heels into the flight deck. It was Calla who felt the greatest shock though, as she looked down at her throbbing fist and realised what she had done.

"Oh no!" she gasped "I am so sorry; I just... I... uh... oh damn it!"

Calla floated forward and after she had removed the seat strap mercilessly tangled around Blues face, she resumed her rapid and constant apologies until he could take it no more.

"Enough; it's alright" he begged "I'm not angry, just very surprised. I'm sorry I overreacted; I was just so happy when the door finally closed."

"You're not the one who overreacted" Calla admitted "It's just that... well... I didn't expect..."

"We'll talk about this later if you want" Blue interrupted "Right now we have to check on our patients and start looking for a good landing site; preferably without water since someone who shall remain nameless decided to misuse our only life raft."

Calla smiled at Blues bad joke as she followed him back to the centre of their craft. Luis and Abigail were both still unconscious but their pulses and breathing were steady. As they lay there in front of him, Blue took the opportunity to really see them for the first time.

"My family" he started to cry a little "I can't believe we're finally together."

Calla smiled as she looked from Abigail to Blue and back again.

"You've got the same chin as your sister" she noted "but you've got your fathers nose."

"If I've got his nose, how does he smell?" Blue grinned.

"Like a sweat filled space suit" Calla laughed.

"You don't know the half of it" Abigail mumbled "I just spent over a month with him in close quarters."

"You're awake!" Blue said as the Grey Heron of Stating the Obvious did his work well.

"How are you feeling?" Calla asked with concern.

"Like an egg on a billiard table; confused and spinning in all directions."

Calla and Blue were so excited to see the first of their patients recovering but for Abigail, waking up brought on a fresh wave of panic. As she slowly became aware of her surroundings, she also recalled the last thing she had seen before passing out.

"Dad... DAD... WHERE'S DAD! she gasped with arms flailing wildly.

"It's alright, it's alright" Blue lightly grabbed Abigail's wrists before she did some more damage.

"He's right here beside you" Calla said calmly "Don't worry, he's alive."

Abigail took a few more short, sharp breaths as her brain caught up with what she had been told. As she barely avoided hyperventilating, her eyes finally fell on the man close by; eyes shut and breathing deeply.

"Oh Dad... what were you thinking?"

"What exactly happened?" Blue asked "I didn't expect to find you in such a state."

"Commander Sage tried to kill us" Abigail sneered "We weren't supposed to find the ship where you were born. When we did, he started to cut us loose from the rest of the ship with the hatch still open. I managed to get it shut before we decompressed but we didn't come though totally unscathed, and Dad had to bandage my eyes for a while. While I couldn't see, he must have connected the life support from his suit to mine so I'd have a better chance of survival.

Abigail started to tear up as she finished her explanation.

"But you made it in time" she half smiled "Thank you... thank you both."

Leaning forward, Abigail reached out and wrapped her arms around both Blue's and Calla's necks, hugging them tight. Calla started to feel particularly guilty when Blue's sister kissed them both on the cheek. After a time Abigail turned back to her father and took his hand.

"So you're my brother" she smiled as she continued to gaze at Luis's peaceful face "Such a shame for us to meet like this, but I'm glad we did."

"In a very strong way, it was all thanks to Calla" Blue admitted.

"ME? What did I have to do with it?"

"If you hadn't fallen down the pressure release vent when you did, we would not have known the ship was close by and would not have been ready to launch in time."

Calla pondered what Blue had just said and it took her a while to realise the truth in what he'd just revealed.

"Oh yeah" she grinned "I'm a genuine hero."

"You always will be to me" Abigail nodded "Even though I have no idea who you are."

"Oh, I'm Calla Donia Linwood" she waved.

Abigail smiled knowingly at her rescuers and started to ask a loaded question.

"Are um... you my brothers...?"

"Co-pilot!" Calla said abruptly.

"Aren't you a little young for a co-pilot?" Abigail asked suspiciously.

"Yeah and I'm also a little short for a Storm Trooper" Calla huffed "but you look about the same age as me anyway."

"I'm thirteen" Abigail admitted.

"Well I'm fourteen" Calla replied.

"Ah, but I'm not a co-pilot; I'm a Cadet."

"So is Calla really" Blue revealed as Calla shot him a very dirty look.

"But I'm also an assistant trainer."

"I'm sorry" Abigail giggled "I didn't mean to upset you but when I think of co-pilots, I think of the people who trained me like Lieutenant Kinderman and her husband, Lieutenant Kinderman."

"Sounds confusing" Blue noted.

"Well I suppose it would be if both their first names were Lieutenant" Abigail sighed "Come on Dad, wake up."

With everyones attention focused firmly on Luis, the sudden noise from the flight deck made them all jump.

"What is that?" Calla blurted out.

"Proximity alarm" Blue answered as he floated forward.

"You're the co-pilot and you don't know the proximity alarm?" Abigail noted.

"Hey give me a break" Calla defended herself "I've only been training about a month."

"Sorry it's just that you would not believe the hoops I had to jump through to be able to fly in space. I think the hardest part was convincing my mother to let me go."

"I can relate" Calla smiled.

* * *

 **I know I shouldn't say this, but I like this chapter. Starts a bit stressful but soon lightens up and ends on a few jolly notes (with one little bit of mystery).**

 **Bye for now and remember this, you may like to sing in the shower but if you get any shampoo in your mouth, you'll be doing a soap opera.**


	53. Chapter 53

**Just realised this is now the longest story I've written so far, and there is still so much more to go.**

 **Saw a t-shirt a few days ago that said this...**

 **ASTEROIDS; nature's way of saying "How's that Space Programme coming along?"**

 **Pretty much sums up this story :D**

* * *

Chapter 53

New Toys

Blue worked feverously at the flight deck computer when a familiar voice called from home.

"Railgun Base to Star Runner; we're getting a proximity alarm" Sarah Spencer told Blue.

"Funny about that, so are we" he replied "Radar says we're in no immediate danger but I'm putting the LIDAR on it now. It doesn't appear to be anything from the outer solar system; it looks like it's in Earth orbit, but it is pretty big."

"Can you get a camera on it?"

"Should be able to when it goes by; its trajectory will bring it to within sixty kilometres" Blue noted.

"Is that close?" Calla asked.

"For two objects in orbit, close doesn't even come close to describing it" Abigail replied.

"Ah-ha; paint swapping" Calla nodded her head.

"Err... huh?" Abigail wondered.

"When a couple of boats get a little too close, we say they swapped paint."

"Yeah that's a pretty good description" Abigail nodded.

The picture Blue sought appeared on his computer screen, giving him a Storm Petrel level of surprise.

"Hey Abby, come and have a look at this" he called back.

"It's okay" Calla smiled "I'll keep an eye on your dad."

Although she was glad to have Calla there, Abigail did not feel right leaving Luis's side but she understood why Blue had called her when she saw the screen.

"It's the MTV" she gasped in fear "commander Sage must still be trying to get us."

"After three days? He'll have a hard time if he is" Blue replied "We can easily drop down to a lower orbit in preparation for re-entry, but if he tries a similar manoeuvre in a ship that big, I doubt he'd get back out of Earth's gravity well."

"Wait... what are you doing?" Abigail asked when Blue brought the Star Runners controls online.

"Going in to take a closer look" he replied with a grin "I rarely get a chance to study a large space ship up close."

"If you're not careful, you're gonna give Sage a free shot at us" Abigail warned.

"If it looks like he's gonna try and ram us, I'll dump an Orion capsule and an EPC in his path" Blue said with determination.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" Abigail shivered.

"Blue, it's Sarah here; were getting some funny readings down here" her voice echoed throughout the ship "What are you up too?"

"I'm just taking a quick peek at the Mars Transfer Vehicle" he replied.

"Was that Doctor Spencer?" Abigail asked.

"Sure was" Blue responded.

"Cool; Mom will be happy to hear she's still around."

Abigail continued to feel nervous as the two ships drew closer and closer together. She almost expected her former home to suddenly turn and pounce on them with no mercy, but it just continued to float on by, appearing to be barely moving when it was really travelling eight kilometres every second. Blue studied the MTV with fascination but there was something not quite right and it took Abigail a few minutes to notice it.

"Wait a second" she said at last "Can you turn this ship ninety degrees to port?"

"Sure thing" Blue replied as he followed his sister's request.

"Oh no" Abigail gasped when she saw the asymmetric centre of the MTV.

"What's wrong?" Blue was more than a little concerned.

"Quick; check the radar" Abigail said with urgency. "Is there another ship out there?'

"Not that I can see" Blue revealed "What kind of ship?"

"A Soyuz just like that one" she said pointing to the centre of the MTV "There were two of them; lifeboats we could use to get back to Earth in an emergency."

"Sage could have gone down to Earth then" Blue noted.

"I can't see why" Abigail shrugged "I assumed he'd go straight home to Mars."

"Maybe he was tired of Mars and wanted to go home" Calla noted from the back of the ship.

"Mars is home" Abigail argued.

"Was he born there?"

"Oh... I suppose not" Abigail realised.

"Well according to the radar he's nowhere near here, so I'm thinking we take your ship back" Blue smirked.

"Take it to Mars?" Calla thought Blue was going off the deep end.

"No I mean take possession of it."

"That makes more sense" Calla agreed.

"Can you link up with your onboard computer remotely?" Blue asked.

"I'll give it a try" Abigail said as she went to work.

"How's Dad doing Calla" Blue called back.

"No change" she replied "Breathing and pulse still okay."

"Well that's one bit of good news, but I'd prefer he woke up before we re-enter the atmosphere" Blue noted "If our landing is anything less than perfect, it would be very difficult to get him out in a hurry."

"Is that why you're killing time with the MTV?" Abigail asked.

"One of the reasons, but I really do want to see if we can use it."

"To go home to see Mom?" Abigail smiled as she continued working.

"Top of my list" Blue admitted.

"List? What else have you got in mind?"

"Later my dear sister; one thing at a time."

"Sorry to say this but even though you're my brother, doesn't mean I trust you completely" Abigail said suspiciously.

"Okay I'll admit it; the only reason we risked our lives to come rescue you, was to enslave you and Dad, and make you work in our salt mines."

"Oh ha ha" Abigail sneered "Salt mining will have to wait though, I'm in the MTV system."

"Sweet" Blue grinned "Let's see if we can get on board."

"Not as easy as you may think" Abigail bit her lower lip.

"Why; what's wrong?" Blue asked.

"The inside of the ship... it's a vacuum in there."

"What? Is there a hatch open we didn't see?"

"Hang on and I'll check" Abigail said as she poured over the information on the screen in front of her.

"Find anything?" Blue asked impatiently.

"Not... yet..." she kept scanning the screen "Wait... here it is; the pressure valves were opened remotely from... oh my God... a signal from Mars."

Blue thought silently for a moment about the odd news and formed a few ideas.

"My guess is someone did not want us to get onboard your ship or... they wanted Sage dead."

"Or off the ship" Calla added.

"Sounds like Mars is as dangerous as Earth" Blue noted "Maybe even more so."

"It never used to be" Abigail sighed.

As Abigail wondered what had gone wrong with her life, the communication line from Earth spoke once more.

"Our feed shows you headed for the other ship" Sarah noted "What are you up to Blue?"

"It appears Commander Sage has fled to Earth" Blue responded "I'm guessng someone on Mars tried to kill him too. So considering there is a big empty spaceship up here, it would be a shame not to take advantage of the situation. At the moment there is no life support inside but if we can do something about it, we should be able to board the ship."

"You were supposed to be coming straight back down after the rescue" Sarah reminded him.

"Gotta try while we're here" Blue replied.

"Oh I hope my Mom isn't hearing this" Calla shivered a little.

"I can tell you this, Mrs. Linwood is not happy with you right now" Sarah revealed.

"Rats!" Calla sighed.

While Calla hoped she would not be called on to explain things to her mother, Blue had other problems on his mind.

"If we dock your Orion back on the nose of the ship, we still have a problem with an air leak on our docking ring; I assume you have the equipment to seal it."

"Of course we do" Abigail sighed "So where is the leak?"

"Somewhere on the seal between the EPC and the Orion."

"Which you damaged when you rammed us" Abigail smirked.

"Don't blame me" Blue retaliated "You're the ones with the weird hatch modifications."

"Why don't you just put the Orion back in place, then unhook the EPC from your ship and leave on the nose of the MTV? We have eighteen free Universal Docking Rings down the side of the ship; it's only the Orion that had the old style."

"Because you didn't normally dock there" Blue realised "I should have thought of that."

"You're just like Dad" Abigail smiled "Cute, but a bit slow sometimes."

"Let's have some quiet from cheap seats please" Blue said when Calla started giggling.

With Abigail's help operating the MTV systems remotely, Blue succeeded in putting the Orion capsule back on the nose of the larger ship in just over twenty minutes, but before they attempted their second manoeuvre, the Dias children took a moment to go back and see how Luis was doing. With so much happening it was difficult to concentrate on so many important tasks knowing he was still unconscious nearby.

"Please wake up Dad" Abigail pleaded as she gently stroked his hair.

As Blue watched on, he had to admit he felt envious of the relationship Abigail obviously had with their father. He felt sure it was something each member of his family would share with each other, and he was already feeling like an outsider forcing his way in where he did not belong. He sighed heavily realising he would have to ignore these feelings because too many people were relying on him to keep his mind on the important tasks ahead; and the one person he did not want to disappoint was Calla's mother. When the girls heard his sigh though, they believed it was for a very different reason.

"I'm sure he'll be okay eventually" Calla said to the siblings "He just needs to rest and he'll be awake before you know it."

Abigail smiled weakly as she nodded, but she had to voice what was troubling her.

"I'm worried about the possibility of brain damage though" she admitted "Dad was without oxygen for five hours."

"I understand what you're saying" Blue nodded "but the Co2 alarm goes off when it detects slightly elevated levels, so he would have had some oxygen in the capsule... just not as much as you'd want him to have."

"So there is hope" Calla agreed "Lots of it; we got hope coming out the wazoo."

"Delicately put, but yes" Blue agreed "High hopes indeed."

He left the girls with his father and returned to the commander's seat to prepare the Star Runner for separation. As he checked the manoeuvring systems and programmed their new destination into the flight computer, something quite unexpected caught his attention.

"Err... Abby... we've got a little problem here" he noted.

"Not another one" she sighed "What is it this time?"

"We're accelerating" Blue replied "Very slowly but we're definitely experiencing an increase in velocity."

Calla was fortunate to see Abigails changing emotions as she scrunched up her face in confused contemplation. With glacial slowness, her eyebrows rose and her eyes widened until her face was the epitome of shock and fear; the Magpie felt quite proud of himself.

"No no no no no no no no No No NO NO NO NO!" Abigail declared as she flew forward and dropped into the pilot's seat.

She slid the computer keyboard closer and began to type so quickly and furiously, it would have impressed Vin Diesel.

"The VASIMR engines are online" Abigail said as she continued to type.

"What's a vasamer?" Calla asked.

"It means Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket" Abigail answered.

"That... doesn't help" Calla said as she was still very confused.

"Just think of it as an Ion Engine on steroids" Blue said "Can you shut them down Abby?"

"Not remotely" she replied "I'm being blocked by a high level security lock out; I could do it from inside the ship though by just shutting off the fuel lines."

"How about the life support systems?" Blue checked.

"Easy; it's part of the general system so there is no security lock out."

"Speaking of lock outs, my pressure suit is out of action so we can't depressurise" Blue noted. "Are any of the MTV docking rings connected to an airlock?"

"The four forward of centre are" Abigail noted.

"Okay; then we're all set to go" Blue took a deep breath and started to transmit "Star Runner to Railgun."

"We're still here Blue" Sarah answered.

"Just wanted to let you know we are definitely postponing our return to Earth, in favour of boarding the MTV."

"Calla's mother is STILL not very happy about this" Sarah admitted.

* * *

 **I am starting to get a little tubby as I age, but I figure it only makes me harder to kidnap.**


	54. Chapter 54

**As I mentioned before, I've put on some weight over the years so I thought it would be a good idea to get some exercise. When I went to the gym though, I couldn't work out why almost everyone on a treadmill had put a water bottle in the Pringles holder.**

Chapter 54

Mine?

"Hey Mom, come and look at this!" Saffron called out.

April Dias had been resting in the rear of the surface transport vehicle for the last twenty minutes. With so much work waiting for her back at Mars Base One, she thought it would be to her advantage to put all her current tasks aside for a while and sleep for as long as she could, but her youngest daughter was not making it easy.

"What is it Saffy?" she asked as she opened the door to the drivers cab.

There was no need to answer her question when the area around the Mars colony met her eyes. They were still fifteen minutes away from the base entrance, but they could see the signs of new construction all throughout the valley. There were translucent walled structures, interconnected regolith domes and even the start of a new surface transport tube.

"Whoa!" April exclaimed.

"I told you there was a lot happening back here now" Kwame Moloi smiled as he drove down the northwest ridge.

"Yeah but I never expected this" April gasped "The council has been fighting us on the subject of surface expansion longer than the fight against the second colony; now we're doing both."

"With most of the tunnelling equipment either at the new base already, or being dismantled for transport, I suppose the Citizens Council figured the construction crews needed something else to do instead" Kwame noted.

"I wonder what they'll think when I try to steal some of them for my base?" April smiled.

The rover was longer than the average bus and twice as wide, so Kwame brought it into the transfer dome with great care. When it was parked in place, the flexible walkway extended from the pressurised section of the surface building, connecting and sealing to the side of the rover. A green light flashed overhead signifying all was safe and a few seconds later the door opened revealing a small greeting party.

"Holly!" Saffron exclaimed as she almost leapt the entire length of the ramp.

April and Kwame followed in a more dignified manner to be greeted by Florian Klein.

"Good to see you again" April smiled widely.

"It's been very dull around here without you" Florian sighed "Sometimes I think you took all the interesting people with you and left all us boring ones behind."

"And I want a few dozen more too" April admitted.

"Well Olive is waiting for us in your rooms so you can bring it up with her when you're ready."

To April's surprise, Florian did not want to wait for her belongings to be unloaded, even though they were travelling light for a short stay. Instead he sent a few people into the rover with orders to prioritize April and Saffron's gear and bring it to their quarters at once. As they rode the internal transport deep inside the base, the two long time friends made small talk about the major problems and minor triumphs at the new colony, as well as April's future plans for the base. While this went on in the front of the vehicle, Saffron had to endure Holly going on and on about this boy she had met, who was the brother of a friend in the new learning group she was now in.

When they finally reached their destination April was even more surprised to find her old home looked exactly the same as when she had left it months ago.

"Hey I put all this gear into storage until it was shipped to our new home."

"Yes and it will go back into storage when you return to Base Two, but we wanted you to be comfortable while you are here" Olive Roux said as she rose from the couch.

"But I only intend to be here long enough to organise the next group to transfer bases" April pointed out.

"That's entirely up to you" Olive smiled weakly "but for now please sit down; we need to talk."

April suspiciously sat into her favourite chair while Saffron and Holly were motioned to the adjacent couch.

"Why does everyone look so down" Saffron smirked "did someone die or sumpthin'?"

She instantly regretted what she had said when Roux bit her lower lip and inhaled slowly.

"There's... there's been an accident... on... on the Mars Transfer Vehicle" Olive said softly.

* * *

The locking mechanism released with a clunk and the Star Runner moved slowly away from the MTV. Abigail looked out the side window of the flight deck to see what the ship now looked like with an External Payload Carrier attached to its nose, and was surprised to see something unexpected.

"What the heck is that weird wobbly thing in there?" she asked.

"It's the exploded remains of an inflatable life raft" Blue informed his sister "Calla used it to positively pressurise the EPC so we could get the hatch closed and locked."

"Clever" Abigail nodded "She really thinks outside the box."

The Star Runner moved slowly back along the length of the ship, but not because Blue was guiding it there, it was due to slow acceleration of the other ship.

"We're approaching the airlock" Blue noted "Sync up the port thrusters on my mark."

Blue watched the ship pass by thought the aft camera until the required docking ring came into view. As soon as he had given the word, Abigail connected the Star Runners thruster control to the MTV navigation computer so both ships would accelerate at the same rate, giving Blue a few minutes to bring them together.

"Make sure you don't crash again" Abigail chuckled.

"You're never gonna let me live that down are you?" Blue sighed.

"Maybe if you save my life a few more times, I cut you some slack."

"But if your life is at risk and I don't save you, then you won't hassle me anymore so problem solved" Blue noted with a smile.

"I'll be good" Abigail promised.

Everything went well as Blue brought the two ships together until Abigail noticed a minor problem with their alignment.

"There's a lag in the thruster control" she said "It must be taking the two systems a split second to talk to each other so we're not quite lined up correctly. Hold position and I'll reset the alignment point forward a little."

"How long will it take you?" Blue asked.

"Five or six minutes" Abigail answered.

"Too long; the thrusters will run dry before you're done" Blue noted "Don't worry, I got this."

"Wha... what are you doing?" Abigail asked in fear when Blue twisted the yaw of the Star Runner forty five degrees to the left.

"Using the nose thrusters to gain a little speed" he replied.

"But you can't come in at an angle of... what is it here? FORTY FIVE DEGREES; ARE YOU CRAZY?"

"Panic ye not; oh noble astronaut" Blue smiled.

If she bothered to look over at her brother, Abigail would have seen the intense concentration in his eyes and the tongue pushing against the inside of his left cheek.

"Oh this is Not going to end well" Abigail declared as she braced herself for the collision.

As the rear of the Star Runner drew closer to the slowly accelerating docking ring, Blue gave the nose thruster a one second burst to bring his ship in closer but because of its slight angle, the Star Runner also picked up a little sideways velocity bringing their docking ring forward of the one on the MTV. Then with only a gap of two fingers width, he twisted the yaw right and brought the ships together straight and smooth, just like a door closing.

"How the hell did you learn to do that?" Abigail asked as the clamps locked in place.

"It's like a game we'd play on the simulator" Calla interjected from the back of the ship "While one person tries to dock, the other one keeps moving the target ship. You have to get pretty inventive sometimes."

"You people are crazy" Abigail stated hyperventilating a little.

"Probably some truth there" Blue admitted as he floated out of his seat.

While Abigail used the Star Runners systems to pressurise the airlock, Blue went back to check once more on his sleeping father only to find Calla fitting her gloves to her suit.

"Err... Abigail is the one going inside the MTV" He noted.

"Yes" Calla smiled "Yes she is."

Blue considered what his next words should be as Calla locked off the first glove and started on the second.

"Fair enough" he resigned himself "I'll give you a hand with your helmet."

"Thanks" Calla said.

"I won't be needing my life support pack of course" Blue called forward to Abigail "So I'll swap it out for yours."

"Thanks" she replied and floated back "How's Dad doing?"

"Still no change" Calla reported as she adjusted the air flow control on her chest "His breathing seems to be long and deep."

"Good; I'll be glad when we can get him back in the MTV simulated gravity ring."

"Do you think it'll help?" Blue asked.

"Wouldn't have a clue" Abigail admitted "but I feel better trying something, than doing nothing... within reason of course."

Abigail floated over to Blue and turned so he could get at the unit on her back. As she waited for the fresh life support pack to be fitted, she noticed Calla nearby all suited up.

"Err... um, I'll be going into the MTV" Abigail said.

"Yes" Calla agreed "Yes you will."

"But..."

"I wouldn't bother if I were you" Blue said quietly.

He knew from experience it was best to let Calla do whatever she wished and from the look on his face Abigail soon got the idea too.

"Fair enough" Abigail resigned himself "Give me a hand with my helmet, would you please."

A few minutes later Blue was wishing the girls good luck as he closed the Star Runner hatch once more. Calla watched as Abigail pressed buttons on the inner key pad and soon the air around them began to thin, till it was gone completely in less than a minute.

"Whoa this feels weird" Calla noted "It's like the arms of my suit have decided they don't like bending anymore."

"Yeah it is different when the pressure outside the suit is non-existent" Abigail agreed.

With the airlock depressurised, Abigail opened the hatch leading to the MTV and floated inside for the first time in over three days. The dull glow of the emergency lighting projected weird looking shadows on almost every surface giving Calla the impression of a strange, man made haunted forest.

"Any chance you could get the lights back on?" she asked Abigail.

"We'll get straight onto it as soon as we get the ship back into a stable orbit" the experienced young astronaut replied.

"Lead on Mc Duff" Calla acknowledged.

Even though she had seen the size of the ship from the outside, Calla was still in awe of the number of sections they had to pass through to reach their destination. At first there were some units full of sealed storage and ships systems, but following on was the central hub with two tubes running off at ninety degree angles to the rest of the ship.

"Do these tunnels go to the big wheel in the centre of the ship?" Calla asked.

"That's right" Abigail began "And when we get it going again..."

"The spin will give us a simulated gravity and we'll be able to stand up like normal" Calla interrupted, showing off what she had learned in training.

Abigail continued aft with a very smug Calla close behind. The next few sections they passed through were simple passageways with docking rings on all sides. When questioned about them, Abigail explained this was where the supply capsules sent into orbit from the Railgun were connected for the long journey back to Mars and Calla soon realised why Blue was so interested in this old but impressive ship.

* * *

Blue meanwhile was keeping vigil over his father while talking to his friends back on Earth.

"Anything interesting to report?" Sid asked.

"Ah... well first off you can let Mrs. Linwood know Calla is fine and enjoying herself very much" Blue noted.

"Mrs. Linwood has gone to get some sleep..."

"Oh good" Blue sighed with relief "I wasn't looking forward to telling her Calla had gone off with my sister to explore the MTV in a total vacuum."

"...but Mr. Linwood is sitting here with me while she is gone."

"Oh crap!" Blue mumbled to himself.

"Is Calla in danger?" Maynard's voice came over the communicator.

"Danger? Definitely not sir" Blue tried to explain "I just thought you wife would not be happy to learn I wasn't keeping an eye on her right now, but my sister Abigail is with her and she knows that ship like the back of her hand sir."

"Relax kid I'm not going to rip you head off" Maynard replied.

"Sarah wanted me to ask you if you've decided on a landing site yet" Sid informed Blue.

"I'll be looking into where we should land once the..."

"Abby... Abby..." a weak voice caught Blues attention.

"Sorry Sid but I gotta go!" Blue said and stopped his transmission "Abigail isn't here Dad, but she's fine."

"Abby..." Luis mumbled and blacked out again.

Thinking fast, Blue hurried to one of the supply packs and grabbed a water pouch. As soon as he had reached his father again, Blue slipped off the oxygen mask and gently placed the straw in Luis's mouth, before carefully squeezing a few drops from the bag. It was barely enough to wet his tongue, but it did the trick as the groggy man slowly began to drink.

"Where is she" Luis whispered as he gradually opened his eyes "and where am I?"

"You're in the Star Runner; you're safe now."

"H-Henry... is it you?"

"Yes Dad... it's me" Blue replied even though he was not used to answering to his real name.

Luis smiled as he slowly lifted his hand to touch his sons face for the first time.

"I wish your mother was here to see you" he sighed.

Blue found himself at a complete loss for words. So many years of not knowing, then the surprise of talking to his father for the first time, followed by the despair of discovering his fatal position. Many days of desperate preparation for launch and now to finally be with Luis at last; it was almost more than he could take.

"I want to see her too, but you'll do for now" Blue shrugged with a smile.

Luis smiled back as he took a deep breath before taking a quick look around himself.

"Where did you say we were?"

"We call it the Star Runner Dad; it's an old Dream Chaser shuttle."

"And your sister is... where?"

"We've managed to dock with the MTV and she's gone to shut off the main drive before we leave orbit."

"WHAT? NO! oww..." Luis had been trying to ignore his throbbing head but his sudden panic brought the pain on with a vengeance.

"Relax Dad, the ship's empty; Sage can't hurt her" Blue comforted him.

"Are you sure? How do you know?"

"Your ship had been drained of atmosphere and one of the Soyuz capsules is missing. Abigail linked our computer to yours and discovered the order to vent the air came from Mars by coded signal. We think someone tried to execute Sage because he tried to kill you, but we're not sure."

"Can you get in contact with Abigail please?" Luis asked.

"No problem" Blue smiled as he helped his father to the comms station.

"Star Runner to MTV; do you read me Abby?" Blue called.

"Greetings brother" Abigail replied "Are you looking for an update on our progress?"

"I just wanted to hear you voice to be sure you were okay" Luis spoke in to the microphone.

"DAD YOU'RE AWAKE!" she squealed "You would not believe how happy I am just to hear your voice... but I'm STILL MAD AT YOU!"

"Your mother is exactly the same" Luis said to Blue.

"What made you think it was okay for you to give me your air supply?" Abigail said accusingly.

"It's what fathers do" Luis explained "I had to give you the best chance I could."

"But Blue and Calla reached us in time you idiot" she huffed.

"Who's Calla?" Luis asked Blue.

"My co-pilot" he answered.

"One of the people from the Railgun I suppose" Luis assumed.

"Not... exactly" Blue admitted and left his father guessing.

"We've managed to cut the fuel to the engines" Abigail said while trying to keep calm "It shouldn't take long before the ship is pressurised again."

"Engines; was Mars trying to bring the MTV back remotely?" Luis realised.

"Yes; I doubt they knew we were able to rescue you, or that you're still alive" Blue hypothesised.

"April and Saffy must think we're dead" Luis sighed "they must be feeling... I hate to think about it."

"Maybe we could try and make contact" Blue offered "but I'm not sure if we could get through to them. Is there anyone we can reach who can be trusted?"

Luis considered what his son had said; the only person he really didn't trust was Sage, but Roux must have known about Henry being alive so if the Premier of the Mars Council was part of a conspiracy, how many others were involved?

"I think I know someone we can rely on" he nodded.

* * *

 **Some friends are like the ocean waves as they come and go, but a true friend stays with you... like an octopus stuck on your face.**


	55. Chapter 55

**I have some wonderful news for you all. Chocolate comes from cocoa, which is a tree. This makes it a plant and therefore chocolate is a salad.**

* * *

Chapter 55

Farewell Blue Marble

Although she still found it difficult to move her limbs in the depressurised environment, Calla was slowly becoming accustomed to moving about in her bulky suit. Having shut down the main engines, both girls had made their way forward to the nose of the ship and they soon found themselves at the hatch the Orion capsule, that almost became Abigails tomb. Unlike the rest of the MTV, the Orion still had air inside and even though it may not have been breathable, it did keep Abigail from opening it up due the positive pressure it held on the hatch.

"It's the exact opposite of the problem Blue and I had trying to shut the Star runner door" Calla realised.

"But now it's docked again, all I have to do is de-pressurise it and we'll have no trouble" Abigail noted.

"Why bother when you could just build up pressure in here?"

"You'll see" Abigail said with a smile.

While Blues sister worked at the computer terminal, Calla craned her head and looked around the front of the ship. It all seemed quite normal until she noticed something very familiar above her. There was a cupola just like the one on the simulator, back when Blue had first shown it to her. Last time she had only seen a computerised projection through the windows but this time, Calla could experience the real thing. Being careful not to touch any of the controls, she floated up and was greeted by the most wonderful and panoramic view of the Earth, the Moon and stars she had ever seen.

"Wow!"

"Not a bad view at all is it?" Abigail smirked.

"It's amazing" Calla agreed as her heart rate began to quicken.

The wide view of space she now saw was very different to what Calla had seen through the smaller windows and it was beginning to make her feel a little odd.

Having completed her de-pressurisation task, Abigail opened the inner door in front of her, to reveal the Orion hatch Sage had purposely neglected to close before ejecting his crewmates into space. A sickly feeling churned around in Abigail's stomach as she remembered what it was like having to face death for the first time in her short life. She moved slowly into the capsule with Calla a short distance behind.

"I'm not expecting any problems, but hold on to something anyway" Abigail suggested.

Calla was not sure what Abigail meant but she grabbed one of the lower seats and held on tightly. To her surprise, Abigail went all the way to the end of the capsule and started to unlock the hatch.

"WAIT!" Calla cried out "The External Payload Carrier doesn't have hatches on either end."

"I know" Abigail turned and smiled.

As she pulled the hatch open, Calla could see straight through to open space for the first time and it gave her a severe case of agoraphobia. Her breathing shallowed and she started to panic when Abigail floated through the opening and into the EPC. It looked to Calla like her new friend was about to float off into deep space, never to return and she felt like she was being pulled out into the blackness of space with Abigail, even though she was really not moving an inch. As she watched wide eyed, Abigail re-entered the Orion capsule with the remains of what was once an inflatable rubber raft in her hands.

"Are you okay?" she asked when she noticed the look of panic on Calla's face.

"C-close the hatch... please."

"Yeah sure" Abigail nodded as she reached out for the door.

With the risk of falling out into space gone, Calla began to feel a little more relaxed, but she was now painfully aware of the helmet she wore and the great desire she felt to get it off as soon as she could.

"How long before we'll get air in here?" she asked Abigail.

"Breathe deep and I'll get right on it."

The girls moved back into the main body of the ship and to a control panel fifteen meters away from the Orion. Abigail could still hear Calla's shallow breathing and so she talked as she worked to help the girl rescuer relax.

"Unfortunately I don't have the security clearance to override the remote signal from Mars, but I do have clearance for accessing the maintenance instructions and wiring diagrams. In order to regain control of the ships life support, all I have to do is remove the computer's ability to receive external signals."

"How are you going to do that?" Calla asked as her breathing returned to something near normal.

"I need to... ah here it is... to find the connection to the high gain antenna."

Abigail floated over to a nearby panel and undid the fasteners in each corner.

"Now we need cable R-117-AR" she said as she scanned the mess of shielded wires in front of her.

It took a few minutes for Abigail to track down the right one and disconnect it from the main computer but when she had, the system reverted to internal control allowing her to re-seal the ship and begin re-pressurisation. The result was not instantaneous, but Calla found the effects showed as her suit slowly loosened and she could easily bend her arms once again.

"Let me help you with your helmet" Abigail said as she began to unlock the neck ring.

"Thanks" Calla sighed as the helmet was removed.

"Are you feeling a little better?" Abigail asked.

Calla just sighed again and lowered her gaze.

"I'm sorry... I just can't explain..."

"Its okay" Abigail comforted her "You never know how anything is going to affect you until you experience it for the first time. It's one thing to see the panoramic view of space from inside a ship, but when you can see there is nothing to stop you from falling away, it can be pretty frightening."

"It didn't frighten you though" Calla kept her perfect sighing record going strong.

"Yes it did" Abigail admitted "I'd never faced open space before either and I was shaking a little."

"You're just saying that" Calla smiled.

"Even if I was, there are all sorts of thing that freak me out, so don't worry if agoraphobia is your thing."

"What's agoraphobia?" Calla asked.

"A fear of open spaces" Abigail explained.

"But I love being outdoors, climbing mountains, sailing open waters..."

"That's good" Abigail nodded "I guess outer space is just a little too open for you at the moment; perhaps you'll get used to it over time."

"My brother is really going to get a laugh out of this" Calla sighed to the power of four "Your brother probably will too."

"We don't have to tell him" Abigail offered.

"I like the idea of not saying anything but I think we must, or it could cause problems if there was ever another emergency" Calla admitted.

"Fair enough" Abigail nodded; impressed by Calla's attitude "Now let's get back to your ship; I want to punch my dad in the arm."

* * *

Just like many other places Professor Adisa had seen on his journey, San Diego looked like it had seen some hard times. After the One and All had pasted by the Solomon Islands, the only other Pacific Islands still intact and inhabited were the larger Hawaiian Islands. Being situated on the eastern side of the Pacific meant San Diego, along with the entire west coast of the Americas, had received far more than their fair share of damage from excessively large waves for many decades, but most of the current damage appeared to be many years old. There was still some debris floating inside the bay, but everything on shore was quite dry. Captain Branson's only comment about what they saw, was that there was simply nobody around to clean up; or that there were probably more pressing survival needs.

The Captain found a reasonably clear place to drop anchor in the northern part of the bay, not far from a large airport that had not seen a wide bodied jet for many decades, and two wooden life boats were lowered into the water soon after. The last time Linton Adisa had stepped foot on American soil (or sand in this case), was the day he had gone onboard the massive tanker now driven onto a beach in West Sumatra.

"For the life of me, I can't work out if it's good to be back or not" Linton said to Henry Deming.

"Good or bad, your feelings don't matter if we can find out some relevant information. Sarah really needs to know what happened fifteen years ago" Henry said "The lives of the people she sends into space may depend on what we find out."

"Hmm... yes" the Professor smiled to himself "I've been so caught up in my own curiosity lately, I'd almost forgotten about how important this journey is to everyone else."

Captain Branson climbed to the top of a nearby breakwater to look around, followed by his acting first officer Jack Sumner and two other crewmen. He signalled for those with him not to talk so he could also listen to their surroundings.

"Seems pretty deserted Captain" Jack commented after half a minute.

"I'd guess we would have about four hours till sunset" Reed noted. "I'd like you to go and have a quick scout around the local area. Take one other member of the crew with you and make sure you arm yourselves. Check in by radio every fifteen minutes and be back well before it gets dark. I'll look for a good shore base around here, but if you find something worth using, call it in and I'll come check it out."

"Aye Skipper" Jack nodded and headed back to the lifeboat for his rifle.

"Excuse me Captain" Professor Adisa called out "do you think we could start unloading the Bull Ant this afternoon? I'd like to start assembling it as soon as we can get it ashore."

"Don't worry Professor; I'm just as eager to finish up here and move on myself, but we have to check the place out first."

"Understood Captain" Linton agreed.

Based on what DeGroot had told Professor Adisa back in Sumatra, it had become clear they would need to travel well inland once they had arrived in the US. But with no room on the One and All for a land vehicle, the Railgun engineers had provided Linton with a viable alternative, just in case no transport was available at their destination. The Bull Ant was a transport system created for moving anything across the surface of an asteroid; an entire habitat or large rocks for processing, the Bull Ant could handle it all. It consisted of four small but heavy tracked units, each one resembling a mini army tank but without the gun turret. They stood just under a meter tall, were two meters long and were connected only by a shielded electric cable on a spring loaded spool with electrical power supplied by photo-voltaic tarpaulins that could be draped over what the units were moving. So all Linton needed to undertake the journey inland was to find something to carry all his supples; an old vehicle, bus, semi trailer or even a tram would do. It just needed to be hoisted onto the four sections of the Bull Ant and they would be on their way. It would be a very slow trip, but they'd get there in the end.

Henry Deming and Professor Adisa wandered over towards the airport in an attempt to occupy Linton's mind for a while, but now he was finally on American soil, he was itching to start the next leg of their journey. Unfortunately there far too much debris left from past tsunami still littering the wide flat expanse of the car park, so after an hour of trying to get through, they gave up and wandered back to the beach. Then in a much welcome turn of good fortune, Jack Sumner's check in call had some good news attached to it.

"We're about two kilometres south east of your current position" he reported "and we've found a solid looking pier near an old fish market. You should have no trouble tying up the ship here."

"Good work Jack" Branson replied "Stay put and I'll send one of the boats ahead to check the route; we won't be far behind."

"Back to the ship?" Linton said excitedly.

"Let's go Professor" Branson chuckled to himself.

In spite of his advanced years, Professor Adisa still acted just like a child on vacation sometimes.

* * *

Ursula Linwood felt quite apprehensive as she sat in her family room and waited. A few minutes ago she had received the news of her daughters impending call from orbit and although she was looking forward to hearing from her, the fact Calla had requested to have the call sent to her family's quarters for a private conversation had her worried. Maynard was on his way back from the ship but would not arrive in time for the call, and Emerson's only response to hearing about Calla checking in was to tell his mother to say hi from him.

"Stand by Mrs. Linwood; we're patching you through now" the communications technician reported.

"Thank you" Ursula replied nervously as she continued to wait.

Just as she was beginning to think she and the comms technician held very different definition about the meaning of the word 'now', she finally heard a very familiar voice.

"Mom? This is Calla; can you hear me?"

"Yes I can hear you; what's happening and when are you coming home?"

"Err... well... quite a lot has been happening" Calla evaded the second half of her mother's question "As you know, we've got this great big space ship now so Blue decided after he had brought me back home, he was going to leave and to go to Mars; but it would take months to get him back up here if we returned to Earth."

"Calla... are you trying to tell me..."

"I've decided I'm going to Mars as well."

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!"

"Oh come on Mom; this is a great opportunity" Calla tried to explain "I get to be the first one from the fleet to travel into deep space; I get to be a trailblazer and show everyone this is not some kind of ridiculous dream."

"You've already done all that; now come home this instant young lady!"

"Sorry Mom... not gonna happen I'm afraid."

"I'm going to find Doctor Spencer and tear her head off" Ursula threatened through gritted teeth.

"Don't you dare Mom, it's not her fault" Calla fumed "She just spent the last fifteen minutes trying to talk me out of going as well."

"Well why didn't you listen to her?" Ursula snapped.

"Listen Mom..." Calla stopped to breath and calm down "we're not going right now; Major Dias is going to wait in orbit for some supplies to be sent up from Earth, as well as the first pods bound for the Asteroid Belt. So you'll have plenty of time to think about all this before we leave orbit."

"And you'll have time to change your mind and come home" Ursula countered.

"Don't hold your breath Mom" Calla huffed.

* * *

 **Some days I am sharp and on the ball; I feel like I can do anything and nothing can stop me. But then there are those other days when I eventually find my lost keys in the refrigerator behind the butter.**


	56. Chapter 56

**I know the voices in my head are not real, but sometimes they give some pretty neat ideas. Of course there are also the occasions when I must ask myself, is what they are telling me worth the jail time? Short answer... no.**

* * *

Chapter 56

I Spy with My Little Eye.

Reed Branson yawned as he climbed the steps leading to the main deck. He would have given almost anything for a cup of coffee, but supplies were low so he was trying to limit himself to one per day. With the One and All tied up the evening before, the crew had been able to unload all parts of the Bull Ant and complete most of the assembly before sun set so he was confident the Professor would be able to start the next leg of his journey before noon. As he walked up the plank and onto the pier, Branson was surprised to see one of the men left to stand guard was sitting cross legged on one of the Bull Ant drive sections.

"Shouldn't you be over on the shore patrolling the area?" he called out.

The accused the young man turned around and smiled at Captain Branson who could now see it was not a member of his crew.

"This is a funny excuse for a vehicle" he stated "No seat, no controls..."

"Who the hell are you" Branson said as he reached for his side arm before realising it was still in the draw next to his bunk.

"Before you start thinking it might be a good idea to call for help, take a good look at your chest" the intruder suggested.

When Reed looked down, he saw the distinctive red dot of a laser sight sitting right over his heart.

"What do you want" he asked bluntly.

"Oh... not much" the arrogant young man said "We'll return your guards to you unharmed and you will leave; pure and simple. And if you ever come back, we won't be so reasonable."

"Friendly bunch aren't you?" Reed sneered.

"Says the man with the high tech weaponry" the man sneered back "Don't think you're the first ship to raid this area. Did your friends from up north tell you we were an easy target? Well you can tell them we're no pushovers."

"Firstly, we are NOT raiders and secondly, we've come from the west; the other side of the pacific to be exact. Not exactly the kind of distance one travels to raid an unknown settlement" Reed insisted.

"Blah blah blah; now you've told me the usual lies, are you going to pack up and go or do we have to be a little more persuasive?"

"What on earth makes you think we're here to... steal, raid, whatever?" Reed asked "The only weapons we have are a few small arms for our own protection and by the look of this dot on my chest, you're the ones with the high tech stuff."

"Oh yeah?" the man jumped down and slapped his hand on top of the Bull Ant "Then what do you call this; a sports utility vehicle? I know a remote control armoured tank when I see one. What are you going to fit on the turntable; a mortar, machine gun or something more in the large bore cannon line?"

"That's not a weapons platform, it's for long distance transport" Reed explained "It's called a Bull Ant and the four of them can move a fully laden truck."

"How gullible do you think I am?" the man sneered again.

"This young man giving you trouble Captain?"

Reed turned around quickly to see Jack Sumner coming up from below deck. He carried a .22 rifle but with the barrel down in a non threatening manner. It only took a second for the red dot to move from Reed to Jack.

"Put the rifle down on the deck Jack" Branson said "That's an order."

"Aye Captain... if you say so."

As soon as Jack had place the weapon down, Reed turned back to the young man.

"He was only giving me back up; no need to be do anything we'll all regret" he said reassuringly.

"Tell your man to get everyone up on deck" the man ordered "and no funny stuff."

"Do as he says Jack" Reed ordered "and make sure no one is armed."

"Aye... will do sir" Jack nodded as he looked suspiciously at the man up on the pier.

As Jack went below deck, Branson considered the young man and his threats. Only one red dot could mean there was only one sniper, or they only had one laser sight; either way the young man may have already shown his entire hand. With a few seconds to think at last, something else came to mind; if Reed were in his opponent's position, as leader he would be the one to show himself to a potential enemy, keeping his people safe while keeping their heads down. Then he started to wonder how old this man really was. At first Reed had assumed the man to be in his mid twenties, but as he stared at what was a very nervous face, he realised the man could be much younger.

"So... raiders from the north" Reed pretended to make small talk "Funny you should say that..."

"THERE'S NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT IT!" the man interrupted "It's bad enough with the meteors, so I don't like not knowing when some pack of bullies is suddenly going appear and take the best of our crops for themselves, leaving us with almost nothing."

"Oh I didn't mean your plight was funny" Reed explained "It's just that we have a man onboard who fancies himself as an expert on ancient Vikings; the original raiders from the north. Honestly I am sorry to hear..."

"Save it" the young man barked "We'll soon find out what you're up to when I search your ship."

"So you can steal our equipment and supplies too? You're no better than raiders yourselves" Branson tried a little psychology on the man.

"Don't you DARE compare me to them" the man hissed "We are nothing like..."

Just at that moment, the first of the crew began to emerge from below deck, most still in their night attire. The young man was quiet as he studied each face in a vain attempt to match any of the people to any past crimes; it wasn't easy when many of them kept distorting their faces by yawning. One of the last to appear was a tall, elderly Jamaican man wearing blue striped pyjamas, a bathrobe and bedroom slippers.

"What are we all doing gathering on deck at this ungodly hour?" the tall man asked.

The young man really did not know what to make of the odd group. He could imagine Captain Branson and Jack Sumner as part of a raiding party, but not the rest of them. As he considered them all, the tall man suddenly noticed him and became very agitated.

"Excuse me" the tall man called out "I hope you haven't been fiddling with the Bull Ants. We haven't finished assembling them yet so unless you know what you're doing..."

Reed Branson panicked when Professor Adisa strode over to the gangway and the ominous red dot appeared on the side of his head.

"PROFESSOR, COME BACK" he called out "YOU COULD GET SHOT!"

"Don't be silly Captain; the young man doesn't even have a gun" Linton replied as he continued unabated.

If the Professor had bothered to pay attention, he would have noticed the young man waving his hands in the air, but it was not because he just didn't care. He looked as if he was waving off an aircraft, but he was in fact trying to signal an unseen person on shore not to shoot Professor Adisa.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" he shouted as the Professor began examining the machines electronics.

"Many people seem to think so" Linton smiled.

"You do know what a laser targeting sight is don't you?"

"Of course I do; it's a... oh!" as the light came on in Linton's head at last, he looked down to see the small red dot now hovering around his chest.

Without another word, the Professor raised his hands and stepped back.

"I'm sorry... didn't mean to startle you" he grinned sheepishly.

With disaster averted for now, the young man suddenly realised what he had heard Captain Branson cry out.

"Did that big guy just call you Professor?" he asked.

"Yes he did" Linton replied.

"Some kind of nickname perhaps?"

"No, not at all; perhaps some introductions are in order. I am Professor Linton Adisa and the big guy you referred to is our vessels captain, Reed Branson. Standing next to his left is..."

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait just a minute" the young man stopped him "Did you say Linton Adisa?"

"Err... yes?"

"I don't believe it; I just don't believe it" the young man grinned "I am going to get some serious gear for bringing you in."

He grabbed the Professor by the elbow and started to half drag him along the pier.

"NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Branson cried out as he leapt for the gangway.

He had every intention of preventing the man from taking the Professor away but the bullet that ricocheted off the top of the gangway soon changed his mind.

"Aww look what you did; you made us waste a bullet" the man complained "I just hope this Professor guy is worth the cost."

"Excuse me please" Henry Deming stepped forward with his hands raised "Whoever it is who wants you to bring in Professor Adisa, will probably want me too."

The young man stopped and thought about Henry's offer, but had his doubts about it validity.

"And who exactly are you anyway?"

"Doctor Henry Deming."

The young man thought for a moment before replying."

"Sorry but you're not on the list; luckily for you."

"Err... what list would this be then?" Linton asked.

"Known criminals wanted for trial" the man replied.

"Oh... you must be with the Earth First Alliance" the Professor gulped.

Even though it had always been a distinct possibility, neither Henry Deming or the Professor ever thought the EFA would still be looking for them; if the organisation still existed, which everyone seriously doubted. Although Linton did assume the young man would be surprised at being recognised as working for the EFA, he did not expect his reaction to the accusation; he genuinely looked shocked.

"ME? You're the EFA sympathiser" the man did some accusing of his own.

"Now wait a minute" the Professor defended himself "I've been working against the EFA for most of my life; as well as hiding from them for the last fifteen years."

The young man only considered Linton's words for a second before deciding the old man must be lying to save his skin.

"Don't think you're going to fool me; I'm gonna get a big reward for you and that's that!"

"Please let me go with you" Henry Deming begged as Linton was dragged away.

"Well... you're certainly old enough to be one of the EFA killers, but I don't think I should take you in without orders when you're not on the list."

"I would love to take a quick look at this list of yours" Linton mumbled.

"Maybe I'm on the list by another name" Henry suggested to Linton's great surprise.

"What other name?" the young man asked, still with intense suspicion.

"Henry Dias" Deming replied.

It's difficult to know what surprised Professor Adisa more; Henry's confession or the fact that he was known to the young man.

"Yup, but you're on the other list of allied spies; oh... I probably should not have said that."

* * *

She tried not to get in the way, but people often found themselves having to choose between dodging Ursula Linwood, or running her down.

"COMING THROUGH" some unknown Railgun engineer shouted "MAKE A HOLE!"

Ursula spun around and jumped back as three people wrestled another overloaded trolley across the staging area.

"What are you doing back here Mom?" Emerson asked as he shook his head.

The fretting mother did not answer but instead asked a question of her own.

"What was in those packages?" she asked.

"Freeze dried food mainly; along with a few other of life's little necessities" Emerson answered.

He waited a few seconds for his mother to say something else, but she just continued to silently watch the organised chaos going on all around her.

"Do you want me to ask if you can talk to her again?" Emerson interrupted Ursula's thoughts "Maybe if you just hear her voice..."

"You know your sister" Ursula sighed "She'd just get annoyed and tell me to back off."

"Yeah... you're probably right" Emerson agreed "but don't forget, Blue was going to bring her back to Earth but she didn't want to be left behind."

"But Mars?"

"She's with two experienced astronauts as well as her trainer; I think she'll be fine... and I don't think she'll be landing on Mars, just taking a little trip."

Ursula turned her head towards Emerson and gave him a look that would turn milk sour.

"That's what you all said about the orbital rescue flight" she hissed.

The way events were turning out may be just life taking its natural course to her son, but to Ursula Linwood it reeked like a conspiracy of coincidence. With the discovery of the large ship in orbit, Blues promise to return to Earth within a few days had been postponed in the name of 'Making the most of a great opportunity'. Rather than leave it to be slowly torn apart by the thousands of pieces of rock and junk surrounding the Earth, he planned to take the ship beyond the Moon and park it for later use. His even bribed the Linwoods with the promise of using a strange thing he called a Soyuz to bring Calla straight back to the Railgun Complex rather than finding a runway hundreds, or possibly thousands of kilometres away.

Later though, Blue's father had made contact with some friends of his on a space station orbiting the red planet. He had apparently done this secretly using something called focused laser communication, but Ursula had to admit she had not understood when it had been explained to her. After making contact, Luis Dias had declared his intention to return to Mars for reasons beyond her understanding. Retuning for his wife and children she could easily relate too, but people had been talking about other things that sounded more than a little dangerous.

All she could do now was wait and hope for the best.

* * *

Back on the west coast of the United States, Linton Adisa and the former Henry Deming found themselves walking as quickly as they could manage through the streets of San Diego, pushed along by their captors. They marched along to the slapping beat given off by Professor Adisa's bedroom slippers.

"What are you laughing at?" Linton asked when he heard Henry chuckle to himself.

"Sorry Professor but walking along in your night attire, you look like a tall elderly dark skinned Arthur Dent."

At first Linton did not find Henry's observation very funny, but he soon changed his mind when one of his captors spoke up.

"Is this Arthur Dent another one of your EFA cronies?"

"Now what are they laughing at?" he then asked his companion.

"Who knows; these guys are weird" the other captor shook his head.

* * *

 **The Beatles once declared 'All you need is Love' but let's face reality; sometimes all you need is a truck load of cash.**

 **Also what I said at the start of this chapter was a joke; there are no voices in my head. Of course I'm not sure how much trust I should put in Ricky the Magic Broccoli who lives in the air vents.**


	57. Chapter 57

**My mother once advised me never to go to the supermarket when I was hungry. I guess I should have listened, considering I have just purchased aisle twelve.**

* * *

Chapter 57

Don't Ask Me; I Only Just Got Here

The expandable heat shield deployed right on time as the landing pod approached the upper layer of the thin Martian atmosphere. As usual it was a bumpy ride but worth the effort, when the all eight landing rockets fired bringing the capsule to rest in a soft landing five hundred meters from the nearest base entrance.

"Have you got everything well hidden?" Ruth asked.

"I sewed the memory chips into the inner lining of my bag" Jarred replied "No one will find them."

A few minutes later, a small rover linked up its access tube with the pods hatch and the returning couple were soon on their way back inside the base. They normally did not mind all the medical checks and debriefing as it was all part of returning home after spending so much time in space. During the check up, Ruth kept the medical staff distracted with a made up story of strange symptoms experienced during her last transit to Earth, giving Jarred a chance to hack into the office computer. He discovered April and Saffron were both taking part in a grief counselling session, starting in one hour and forty minutes; this would give him the time he needed to get a very important job done.

The debrief took longer than was usual, mainly due to all the strange and tragic occurrences during their last flight to Earth and subsequent stay on the Orbit Station, so the Kindermans eventually asked for a 24 hour break from proceedings to get resettled and get some rest before proceeding. However when their request was granted they did not go to their home, but instead made straight for the Dias residence. While still in orbit, Jarred had altered the electronic key to his own home and downloaded Luis's house codes from his family file. Eventually the file would be updated to remove Luis and Abigail from the system, but he felt sure nobody would enact the update as long as they were still coping with Luis's apparent death, and he was right.

"If anyone comes towards the door, I'll just knock casually as if I were looking for April" Ruth said.

"And when you do, I'll run around the room in a 'Scooby Doo' style of blind panic" Jarred replied.

"Just hide in a cupboard or something" Ruth sighed.

"You think of everything" Jarred smiled.

"Not everything" Ruth admitted "Sometimes I don't think about Aardvarks."

"You shouldn't be so careless" Jarred grinned as the door slid open and he slid inside.

The strange banter helped both of them to relax a little. Stress had been building up for Jarred and Ruth ever since they had intercepted the first message from Earth. When he thought about what he was doing, Jarred felt like he walking into the middle of a tigers cage, covered in bbq sauce with a sprig of parsley on his head.

While Ruth paced up and down the dimly lit passage with only the White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern for company, Jarred got straight to work on clearing the room. Although he had no real reason to believe there would be any covert listening devices, he decided it would be best to verify the fact before moving on to the integrated systems. Jarred had to admit he knew very little about the Deep Council beyond their name and existence, so he did not know if their intentions were sinister or benign. His opinion about them started to downhill when the electrical transmission scanner in his hand went off and he found the first bug in the room.

It was built into the wall so Jarred could not remove it without making its discovery obvious. So instead he set up a soundwave deflector in front of the listening device to prevent it from picking up any future conversations in the room. He stepped back when he was finished and considered the position of the device and the area it would cover before going to the opposite side of the room. Sure enough there was a second bug positioned to pick up anyone talking in the kitchenette area as well. With another sound deflector set up in front of it, Jarred then went to work on the integrated computer comms system.

He felt sure there would be listening devices in every other room but as his time was limited, making the living room safe was his first priority. With the monitor screen removed, Jarred quickly cut the wires to the camera and microphone before reconnecting them through a remote electronic switch. With the last of the essential tasks done, all he and Ruth had to do now was to wait for April to return.

* * *

It was hot in the back of the truck, not to mention uncomfortable and the condition of the road did not help much either. Professor Adisa sat opposite the man he had once trusted and glared into his eyes. To his disgust and annoyance, Henry just smiled back as they bounced down the rough track.

"Henry Dias?" Linton said at last.

"That's right... and in case you're wondering, yes I am Blues grandfather but no, I'm not a spy."

"Then what are you?" the Professor asked bluntly.

"Merely a concerned father and grandfather" Henry explained. "Back when this whole Mars business started, there were all kinds of people involved with initial planning. There were people like you Linton, who firmly believed only the right people should be sent off planet. People with both physical health and the necessary skills needed to give humanity the best chance of survival if the Earth were destroyed. Then there were others who also firmly believed only the right people should be sent, but from a very different, class based perspective. Some wanted to save themselves and others wanted to save their children. I found myself in a very different camp because although my wife and I desperately wanted to save our young son Luis, we did not have the right connections with the people in power to guarantee it would happen. But then I was asked to be one of the senior biological researchers in low gravity plant growth."

"April Haddock did a lot of her early study in that field" the Professor realised "so you used her position as a Mars candidate to get your son on the list."

"You are looking too far ahead Linton; Luis was only a school boy at the time. Yes it is true I tried to get him on the Mars list, but my request was flatly refused. Eventually though after much arguing about what an asset I would be for the project here on Earth, I threatened not to take the biological research position unless Luis was given a chance to make the Mars list; eventually the people in charge made me a counter offer."

"I get the strangest feeling I will not like the sound of this counter offer" Linton noted.

"I dare say you won't" Henry agreed "One of the biggest obstacles to the whole Mars Colony was people like me who would only help in exchange for an interplanetary ticket. What they really wanted more people like you, who would devote their lives to the project with no strings attached. So they said to me, if I would regularly give convincing speeches to my colleagues and students about the noble sacrifice we were making for the future of humanity, Luis would be guided into a career guaranteeing he would end up on Mars."

"You hypocrite" Linton hissed.

"Maybe so Professor, but to paraphrase the old saying; before you cast the first stone, remember you were not completely without sin either."

"That doesn't make any sense; and besides, I never made any such demands" Professor Adisa protested.

"True, but you did use your position to move your family from your home in Jamaica where the risk from tsunami was much greater, to Germany where you could also put your adult children on a Mars based work program."

"But I did not make it a condition of my cooperation" Linton protested "I knew there was only a one in a million chance either of them would be chosen to go."

"How many friends and colleagues did you leave behind in Jamaica though?" Henry suggested accusingly.

"I can't be held responsible for everyone; you're being ridiculous" Linton shrugged.

"I know what I did was wrong, but I would have done almost anything to save my boy; even disown him."

"Disown him? Now what are you talking about?" Linton looked confused.

"Even in the early days of the Mars plan, years before the first construction robots were sent, somebody worked out that it would not take long before the list of Mars Candidates would surely be scrutinised to see if it was being manipulated to include a little bit of nepotism. For the wealthy and powerful, this meant sending their children away to be raised elsewhere with new names; so when they ended up on a ship to Mars, no connection could be made with their parents. But since I was just a nobody in the eyes of the world, it was me who had to go; and so the Colombian scientist Henry Dias was reportedly killed in an accident on his way to take up his post, and was replaced by a man from Indonesia named Henry Deming, who just happened to look and sound just like the late Doctor Dias."

"I can't believe you could do such a thing" the Professor shook his head in despair.

"It wasn't something I just came up with one fine day, thing just changed... slowly... one step leading to another and before you realise what's happening, your wife is kissing you goodbye in the middle of the night and preparing to tell your son, his father had died in a plane crash. Back then I couldn't be sure he would ever make it to Mars anyway, but I had to try."

"I would never consider doing anything along those lines" Linton sighed.

"Maybe not my old friend, but many tears later when Luis had grown up and become an MTV pilot, you definitely benefited from my deception" Henry smirked in a very annoying way.

"What are you talking about Henry?"

"When we were working on the prototypes for the first hydroponic units, there was a young girl who had become like a daughter to you after the loss of your own family."

"Yes yes April; get on with your story."

"You accused me of using her to get my son on the Mars list Linton, but actually it was the other way around."

Henry's revelation sounded absurd, but it really made Professor Adisa sit up and take notice.

"Luis may have been an engineer/pilot, but just like all Mars candidates he had to have training in all other fields including plant biology. Just before he arrived with the other trainees hoping to be chosen for Mars, I was given a secret list of all the young men and women who had already made the list, and April's name was not on it. The note attached instructed me to put all the people on the list into the same classes, where it was hoped a few relationships would develop before they left the Earth. Knowing April was trying to make the cut and knowing you were doing your best to help her, I made her one of the instructors in the same class as the successful Mars candidates, as a favour to you."

"Are you trying to tell me Luis and April had an arranged marriage?" Linton asked in amazement.

"Of course not" Henry laughed "None of the couples formed here were arranged, but future Mars colonists were given many opportunities to socialise with each other while still in training. You and April thought she had the same chance to be chosen as all the others, but when I found out she was NOT going to Mars, I gave her a secret second chance. Little did I know, it would be my own son who was instantly drawn to her. I know it is no justification for what I'd done and the lies I'd told, but if I had been as honest and above board as you, April would still be on Earth, she would never have met Luis and their children would have never been born."

"Considering how much we all love Blue, maybe it is some kind of justification after all" Linton admitted, although he was still very disappointed in his old friend.

* * *

Blue meanwhile was lying on his bunk contemplating something that had been troubling him since the day he had discovered it. He could sense the motion of the gravity wheel as it turned, but it didn't feel too bad. If he had tried to watch the Earth below out of the window, as it turned strange cartwheels in space, it would surely make him feel nauseous.

"Penny for your thoughts" Abigail used the old conversation starter, even though she had never seen any kind of coin in her entire life.

"I was just thinking about a book I read recently" he replied.

"What was it about?" Abigail asked.

Blue did not answer straight away and since having a brother was still quite a new experience for Abigail, she wasn't sure why he was so quiet. After a few seconds, she realised he was simply collecting his thoughts; but when he spoke again, he said something very surprising.

"Did you know we're descended from dragon riding Vikings?"

"Okay, I admit it" Abigail replied "I did not expect you to say that!"

* * *

 **As I continue in my attempts to get fit, it's possible I may have come across the ultimate form of exercise. It's a cross between a lunge and a crunch; it's called lunch.**


	58. Chapter 58

**Why is it that whenever I try to clean out the garage, I spend 5% of the time cleaning and 95% playing with the stuff I find?**

* * *

Chapter 58

Divided Loyalty

Ruth Kinderman had no reason to believe April and Saffron would be alone when they returned to their home, so she should not have been surprised to see Florian Klein and Holly Duncan walking with them. She quickly tried to come up with an excuse to get rid of both of them but in the stress of the situation, nothing came to mind.

"Hello Ruth" April smiled softly "It's so good to see again after all this time."

The Kinderman's plan was rapidly falling apart but in desperation, Ruth decided it was time to place her cards on the table and let everything hit the fan by heading off to the creek without a paddle, while the Budgerigar of Overused Metaphors collapsed under the strain of being overworked.

"Err... can we speak inside" she asked April.

"Yes certainly" April replied as she reached for the door control.

To her complete surprise, April noticed the door was already unlocked and there was a very suspicious guilty look on Ruth's face.

"I'll explain everything, I promise" Ruth begged.

"Maybe we should catch up later Florian" April said to her old friend.

"NO!" Ruth protested "I can't take the risk of what you may do, or who you may tell."

"What are you talking about Ruth?" April was becoming worried.

"Please... inside."

The door slid open and Ruth shepherded the small group into the room where Jarred was still working on the communication system.

"What on earth is going on here" April asked sternly.

"Very sorry April but we had to break in to check for listening devices" Jarred said softly.

"You have got to be kidding me" April sniffed at the idea.

"I'm afraid it's true my dear" Florian nodded "The entire base is bugged."

Everyone looked at Florian with stunned looks on their faces, but he just smiled while still managing to look both embarrassed and ashamed. Then at that very moment, some words Florian had spoken more than a month ago flashed into April's mind.

"A man of a certain age" she remembered as Florian just nodded.

"A man of... what does that mean?" Ruth asked.

"It means I know things my dear" Florian admitted as he sat down "Secrets I never wanted to keep, and secrets I will keep no longer. I dare say your friends have discovered the truth behind the death of your husband and daughter and I will not try to stop them from telling you; if this colony is to grow and succeed, perhaps it is time for the truth to come out."

Saffron had trouble holding back her tears at the mention of Luis and Abigail, as everyone stood in silence for a moment until Ruth brought the shock up to Magpie level.

"They're not dead" she revealed.

April suddenly turned to Ruth and glared at her with fury.

"That's not funny!" she growled "Can't you see this is upsetting Saffron?"

April held on to her daughter who didn't openly sob, but stood shivering with her lower lip quaking

Jarred stepped forward with a computer tablet in his hand and on the screen was a picture of Luis and Abigail. He handed it to April and as she took it, he lightly tapped the screen.

"Hello my darling" Luis's voice came from the speaker "Don't believe what you have heard; Abigail and I are not dead but very much alive."

April almost dropped the tablet as she and Saffron watched the recorded message.

"I can only imagine what you and Saffy have been going through since being told we had been killed. The most incredible thing is my darling, it was no accident; Commander Sage actually tried to kill us. I am very happy to say that although we were in great danger for a while, we were saved by two remarkable young people; get ready for another shock my dear."

Luis and Abigail floated back a little to allow two other young people to move into shot. The young girl looked very pleased, but it was plain to see the boy next to her was very nervous.

"Let me introduce you to Miss Calla Donia Linwood" Luis said as the young girl waved.

Seeing her family alive and well after having gone through days of grief, started to overwhelm April as she tapped the screen to pause the message.

"How did you get this?" she asked.

"It's a long story but it started when we were on our way back to Mars with the last of the supplies and we intercepted a message from Earth" Jarred explained.

April was about to ask another question when Ruth interrupted.

"Sorry April but you just have to see this next part" she insisted as she reached over and tapped the screen again.

Calla moved out of shot as Luis brought all attention to the young man with him.

"And this young man my dear, is know as Blue; or as you and I would know him, Henry Gerwin Dias" the proud father grinned.

"Hi Mom; hi Saffy" he smiled.

April did not exactly faint, but this time she did drop the tablet as she herself dropped heavily onto the couch.

"Are you alright April?" Ruth asked as she sat down with the distraught woman.

"Are you seriously telling me... that boy... is my son?"

Ruth and Jarred glanced at each other; they both knew there was no proof to give.

"We know the ship he was born on did not sink, Professor Adisa, Sarah Spencer and all the others made it to the Sumatra Complex and they have been sending us the supplies for this base for over fifteen years" Ruth said.

"We don't know why this information was kept from us, but it looks like Roux and Sage knew about it. As to who else was involved we can only guess but we have some suspicions" Jarred noted as he turned towards Florian Klein.

April also looked at this man she had trusted but before she spoke to him, there was something else she had to take care of.

"Saffy, I think you and Holly should go to your room while I talk to Florian."

"Just give me a minute to check it for bugs" Jarred said as he retrieved his detection equipment.

* * *

With new supply pods appearing in Earth orbit regularly, Luis had been very busy retrieving them in the Space Exploration Vehicle. He had taken Blue with him for the first few trips, giving them a chance to get to know each other, but on the current trip he was showing Calla how the machine worked and how to operate it. This gave Blue an opportunity to become more familiar with the MTV as well as the older of his two sisters. Abigail knew her brother would have a lot to tell her about his life on Earth, but she had not expected him to start off with a story about dragons.

"Did you hear me?" Blue asked the stunned girl in front of him.

"I heard you alright" Abigail answered as she sat on one of the other bunks "I can honestly say I did not know we were descended from dragon riding Vikings; but what makes you believe a silly story like that?"

"It was an odd little man named Maximilian DeGroot who appeared at the Railgun Complex with a whole bunch of other people, not long after I met Calla. He knew about Mom and her grandfather, and he had actually spent years looking for me. He's been telling me all about a tribe of Vikings who had been at war with dragons; these dragons would raid their village and steal their livestock. This went on for hundreds of years until one day, one of them managed to capture and train a dragon. Thereafter they were known as the Dragon Riders of Berk; I don't know the whole story yet but DeGroot says we are direct descendants of this guy who is referred to as the Dragon Master."

"So why would this DeGroot character want to try and fool you into thinking you were a dragon rider? It doesn't make much sense" Abigail noted.

"I know what you mean because none of us really believed him, but he had these old books telling the whole story and no matter how farfetched it seemed, it was kind of like reading a great adventure story; but then something weird happened."

"What could be weirder than riding dragons?" Abigail grinned.

"More than you'd believe" Blue answered. "Not long before you made contact with us, DeGroot sailed off with some others to America, to find out why we had been locked up for fifteen years underground. Before he left, he gave me another old book called the Book of Gothi; it was very old with pages that appeared to be some kind of animal leather. It was written in Viking Runes and when I translated one of the pages, I found something very surprising."

"Well don't keep me in suspense" Abigail snapped when Blue stopped talking.

"It was like a diary... or maybe a history of important occurrences on the Island of Berk. The one I read told a fanciful story about Gothi taking the Son of Stoick to look into a thing called the Vision Portal."

"Sounds like more fables to me" Abigail shook her head in disbelief.

"Exactly... but as I read on, the book described what the Son of Stoick saw in his vision."

"You're keeping me in suspense again" Abigail scolded her brother.

"He saw me" Blue stated.

"You're kidding me; he could see you?" Abigail's eyes widened "How do you know it was you he really saw?"

"The book said the guy in the Vision Portal introduced himself as Blue Dias; not exactly a common name."

"The real question is could you see him?" Abigail wondered.

"I err... don't know; it was such a shock I didn't read the rest of it" Blue admitted.

"You could have gone back and read it later when the initial shock wore off" Abigail said in frustration.

"I suppose I could have, but saving you and Dad sorta took priority."

Abigail dropped her head in disappointment. She had first thought the idea of dragon riding Vikings was nothing more than craziness, but now she wondered if she were being a little to gullible because she was starting to believe Blues story.

"I don't suppose you brought this book with you?" she asked.

"Even if we didn't have weight restrictions, I wouldn't have wanted to risk losing it; I had no idea where we would have ended up if we'd gone straight back to Earth."

"Well I suppose it's too late now since you're going back to Mars with us" Abigail noted.

"Who's to say I won't return to Earth one day?" Blue pondered "My future isn't set in stone."

"But apparently bits of it are written in the Book of Gothi" Abigail smirked.

* * *

 **Something Peter Parker never realised is, with great power comes a great electricity bill.**


	59. Chapter 59

**My trainer keeps telling me to cut out the late night snacks but I can't help it; my fridge has a light inside it.**

* * *

Chapter 59

Not You Again (sigh)

There was something about the look in Abigail's eyes that told Blue she was not telling him something; and it could be something important.

"I'm not crazy" he said "I know there is no such thing as dragons but... well... it was just such a surprise to see my name in this ancient book."

"Oh I don't think you are crazy, it's just that... Mom used to tell us stuff when Saffy and I were little. We knew about Earth from our history lessons and we would ask her to tell us all about it every night at bedtime. We just loved to drift off to sleep with fresh visions of this mystical, magical place where you could run around outside without a pressure suit and where the sun would warm you up instead of burning you with deadly radiation. Oceans of water, filled with incredible creatures and animals as big as an elephant or as small as a mouse. Pets like dogs and cats, wild animals like tigers and rhinos; it all sounded so wonderful."

"I had a cat" Blue smiled "A white lump with a few grey splotches named Moon."

"Why did you name his splotches?" Abigail asked.

"No, the cat was named Moon."

"So what did you call his splotches?"

"Alphonse and Bertie" Blue said sarcastically "now get on with your story."

"Okay grumpy" Abigail smirked "After a while, Mom started telling us about the places she'd been and the people she had known; friends, family and the like. One night she told Saffy and me about her grandfather Gerwin Haddock, who would tell Mom fantastic bedtime stories of his own about our Viking ancestors who rode... dragons."

Blue looked at his sister with mild amazement

"Did she ever mention anything about DeGroot?" Blue asked.

Abigail thought for a moment before answering.

"I don't think so; I'm sure I would have remembered a name like DeGroot. So what's his story anyway; is he another Viking descendant?"

"Not really" Blue explained "Maximilian DeGroot says his family were from the kingdom of Elydonia; a place once ruled by a tyrant king who tried to take over the Viking lands, but was defeated in a war with the Dragon Riders of Berk. The new king became a firm friend of the Vikings and was even married to one of their warrior maidens. Apparently there was a Yolon DeGroot back then who was the Royal Historian and keeper of all important artefacts and upon his death, the task was passed down from generation to generation."

"I don't remember any place named Elydonia from my studies of Earth geography" Abigail noted "Do you know where it was?"

"Northern hemisphere is all I can tell you" Blue apologised "DeGroot said he spent a long time searching for it along the west coast of Europe from the Netherlands up to Norway, with no luck at all."

"Wait a minute; didn't your friend say her name was... Calla Donia Linwood?"

"Yeah... so what?" Blue shrugged.

"Calla Donia... Elydonia..."

"Oh now you're being ridiculous" Blue shook his head "The odds against Calla being a part of this whole thing..."

"Yeah, I know you're right but I'm thinking about how the Roman Empire used to refer to what is now Scotland, as Caledonia; so maybe the ruins of Elydonia are in Scotland."

"I think you're drawing a very long bow to come to a conclusion like that" Blue sniffed.

"Maybe so, but it might be worth a look someday" Abigail smirked.

* * *

"Looks semi rural out this side" Henry Dias noted as he peered through a split in the canvas cover of the truck "I can see shacks and barns about five hundred meters apart well into the distance."

"Same on this side" Professor Adisa agreed "but with one noticeable difference."

A few minutes ago, the truck transporting the two prisoners had emerged from the winding hills road and was moving down into a fertile valley beyond. It all looked very much like a mid 20th century farming community with one obvious exception. Out of the right side of the truck, about fifty kilometres away were four craters in an almost straight line. The first was the biggest and looked to be several kilometres across while the other three would have been just under a kilometre in diameter each.

"Judging by the way the crops are set up around the craters, I'd guess at least five years have passed since that particular strike" Linton noted.

"Makes you realise how lucky we were to be so well protected" Henry pondered.

The long journey had been less than comfortable and although Linton was not looking forward to meeting his captures superiors, there was a real sense of relief when the truck pulled up outside a razor wire topped fence an hour later.

"Stay where you are" the young man barked as he alighted from the truck cab.

Henry had a quick peek through the torn tarp before sitting down again with a look of dread on his face.

"I think we'd better do as we're told; those are real soldiers out there and they have weapons are almost as big as the guns we put on the One and All" he advised with more than a little exaggeration.

The two men sat quietly and listened to the terse conversation outside.

"What are you doing here Shifty?" one of the soldiers asked "You know fuel is in short supply and you should only use the truck to deliver our supplies."

"But this is important" the young man who was apparently called Shifty replied "Another ship arrived yesterday and…"

"Don't tell me your problems" the soldier interrupted "If you used up your bullet supply seeing them off, it's none of my concern and I'm not giving you anymore."

"No… well… we did use one, but I've brought you a prisoner" Shifty said proudly.

"What the hell makes you think we want him? Raiders are your problem" the soldier barked.

"But… but… he's on the list."

"What list?" the guard sneered before he suddenly remembered.

It was not surprising they had forgotten what Shifty was talking about, as there had not been any mention of the Wanted Persons lists among their ranks for more years than either of them could remember.

"Which list is this prisoner on?" the second, more superior soldier asked.

"The prisoner is on the Priority One list, but I've also got a guy from the Informants list."

Linton gave Henry a dirty look when he heard the word Informant mentioned. In reply, Henry just shrugged his shoulders and smiled meekly. One major difference between Shifty and the soldiers became apparent when the young man checked his copy of the list from a battered old notebook, while the military men used computer tablets to retrieve their information.

"Okay then Shifty, what are their names?"

"The informant is Henry Dias and the prisoner is Professor Linton Adisa" Shifty pronounced proudly.

The soldiers scrolled the information on their pads until a look of shock mixed with a little bit of fear crept over their faces. They quickly put the pads away and lifted their weapons but not towards the truck, instead they pointed the machine guns up as they scanned the sky. When they were both finally satisfied there was nothing about to attack from above, the soldier's attention returned to the truck.

"Is err... is there a problem?" Shifty asked nervously.

"You've got one of the top leaders of the Earth First Alliance in the back of your vehicle" the senior soldier stated "and you know how much the EFA loves to make use of Attack Drones."

When Linton overheard the revealing statement, he stared at Henry with a mix of anger and disgust.

"I swear" Henry protested "I don't know what he's talking about."

The soldiers hurried around to the rear of the vehicle, keeping their weapons trained on it at all times.

"Come out slowly Adisa; and keep your hands where we can see them!"

It was difficult to work out who was more surprised. The Professor followed the order to the letter but was still very confident things would not work out well for him in the long run.

"I think there's been a mistake" he said as he stepped down to the ground "I've never been part of the EFA..."

"SHUT UP!" the soldier screamed "Get down on the ground and stay there."

"I can vouch to you, he not dangerous" Henry offered.

"Did he brainwash you with his propaganda?" the soldier accused.

The senior man unclipped a two way radio from his belt and reported the identity of his prisoner to whoever was on the other end of the conversation and in a very short amount of time, four electric vehicles turned up and each one carried two more armed men.

"REPORT!" shouted the one who was obviously in charge.

"One of our scouts has arrived with two men sir" the senior soldier noted "It is claimed one of them if Professor Linton Adisa; a high ranking official in the EFA."

"I've got nothing to do with the EFA!" the Professor stated adamantly.

"Who's the other one?" the commander asked.

"Doctor Henry Dias sir" Henry smiled and waved "and I can verify the Professors claim; he's not EFA."

The commander looked both of the intruders over carefully before he spoke again.

"Take them both to Sector One" he ordered.

Four of the soldiers stepped forward and handcuffed both Henry and Linton before dragging them off to the electric buggies.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" Henry sighed.

"Before you go Commander..." Shifty called out.

"What is it son?" came the terse reply.

"We were forced to use one of our bullets when holding the prisoners shipmates back; could we have another one please?"

The commander walked out towards the young man as he considered the request.

"What kind of ship and how many people were on board?" he asked.

"It was a two masted sailing ship sir with about a dozen people on board" Shifty reported "They were not heavily armed but they did have four odd vehicles that looked like small black tanks with no guns."

The commander strode back to the prisoners sitting in the carts.

"Bull Ants?" he enquired.

"Err... yes" Linton admitted with surprise.

"Where did you get them?"

"They were part of the equipment we would use to move sections of spacecraft during assembly" the Professor said with a little venom in his voice "We've been sending supplies and equipment to support the Mars Colony for decades."

"Oh really" the commander gave a very sarcastic smile "And you decided to come here on a little vacation?"

He walked to the rear of the vehicle and opened the trunk. From inside he took two small boxes before he returned to Shifty.

"Sergeant; have this young man's truck filled with fuel."

"Filled sir?" the sergeant questioned.

"Yes... and his spare fuel cans too" the commander ordered as he handed Shifty the boxes.

"Sir... there's... fifty rounds here" the young man said with surprise.

"You've earned them" the commander smiled "Just don't waste them."

"D-did you want me to... stop the prisoner's friends with these Sir?" Shifty asked nervously.

"No m'boy; if they want to come looking for their friends, feel free to point the way for them."

He left Shifty standing confused with the cartridges in his hands. As the carts drove off the Sergeant walked over and slapped the young man on the shoulder.

"Looks like you did something right for a change Shifty" he said.

* * *

The last few hours had not been good for Florian Klein. The woman who had been like a daughter to him for so long was not just angry with him, she was furious. He had tried to explain his difficult position to April, but it had not been easy to get her to listen.

"Please understand April" he had begged "I really had nothing to do with what happened to you on Earth. Remember I came to Mars as part of the very first team of engineers before you were even born."

"But you thought nothing of keeping it from me when you found out" April scowled.

"I found out as part of a Deep Council briefing weeks before you arrived. I felt sorry about what had happened, but I also knew there was absolutely nothing I could do about it because if you had ever discovered the truth, your very life could have been forfeit but even if they had let you live, you could not have returned to Earth anyway."

"So who was to blame?" April asked directly "Who decided to tell me my son was dead?"

Florian took a deep breath. He did not want to continue, but there was no way he could avoid the oncoming freight train of future events.

"I was informed it had always been the plan to tell you... well... to tell everyone, the ship had been lost with all hands. This was just one of the ways the Deep Council used to get the colonists accustomed to the idea that there would be no more survivors arriving from Earth. It was meant to give everyone the impetus to make personal sacrifices in the rapid expansion of the base. When you arrived at the airbase outside San Diego without your baby, it was Olive Roux who made the decision to include him in the deception."

"I'll kill her" April threatened "I'LL BLOODY WELL KILL HER!"

"I know how you feel April, but..."

"HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW HOW I FEEL?" she shouted back.

Her protest made perfect sense but Florian knew he could explain his statement.

"April... when the automatic report to the Deep Council came through about the ship being discovered by Luis on the MTV, along with what Sage had done about it, I was so angry to hear he had murdered two members of my Mars family, including one of my granddaughters, I demanded the Deep Council agree to have him executed for the crime. They did not agree with me but said they would not stop me if I wanted to do it myself; it was their way of keeping their hands clean. So I contacted the MTV, let Sage know what I intended to do and then sent a command to the computer ordering it to decompress the ship. It did not occur to me he would have enough time to escape in one of the Soyuz capsules."

"Y-you really tried to execute him?" April was slightly shocked.

"I believed he had just killed Luis and Abby. Maybe I was wrong, but I felt I had the right; I was really very upset... just as you are with Olive."

April just stared in shock; she never guessed the old man in front of her felt so strongly about her family, or that he was capable of such vengeance.

"The real question is what do we do now?" Jarred put forward "The MTV will be leaving Earth soon with some unexpected passengers on board and I'm sure it would be best if we did not wait until they got here before we tell anyone."

April stood up and paced back and forth for a while. The others all had opinions about what their next move should be, but since it was April's family who would be most affected, it seemed right to hear her ideas first."

"I think it is about time we put a permanent end to all the secrecy around here" she stated bluntly.

* * *

 **When I saw The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, I wanted to go to Narnia. Upon seeing Harry Potter, I wanted to go to Hogwarts. Then I saw the Hunger Games and thought... no thanks; I'm happy here.**


	60. Chapter 60

**Hello again everyone.**

 **I think I've got the end of the story sorted out, but we shall see if I can pull it off in less than 20 more chapters, or whether we end up with 5 more sub-plots.**

* * *

Chapter 60

King of the World

It was surprising how much enjoyment Harriet Doom was getting from the work she was doing at the Railgun complex. With help from some of the electrical engineers, she had built on the experience she already had in repairing old circuitry and was becoming more and more confident with other kinds of electronics. Doom would usually assist those with more experience than she had, but she also carved out a little side line taking care of the need for audible notifications in all space related systems.

There was a time when an alert sound would simply be an alert sound; nothing more and nothing less. It could be a beep or a chirp but when it was heard, a person would need to check a control panel to find out what the alert meant. Doom suggested to the engineers that all alerts could be different so the problem could be partially assessed without the need to rush to a computer screen. After she had been given the go ahead, Doom began developing a new system, assigning different styles of music to different areas. Autonomous Rock Processors for example, all ended up using short phrases from the third movement of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto E Minor to let their operators know about a broken drill bit, a jammed regolith line or a hydraulic failure. Other machines or Space Station systems had music alerts ranging from Moanin' by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, to the metal sound of Hocus Pocus by the band Focus.

Doom's choices often bemused the other engineers, but the biggest surprise came with the first workshop test of the new Ten Meter Airlock door. Specifications stated the door would need a loud distinctive audible warning because being caught in it when closing would be fatal. Normally a piercing electronic alarm would be used but when the testing engineers began the closing procedure on their test unit, they were surprised to hear the sweet falsetto voice of Freddie Mercury, repeatedly singing the word Galileo.

"Can someone get Miss Doom down here to explain herself" the group leader ordered.

"It may have to wait till tomorrow Chief" one of his team answered "She's on a dinner date with Emerson; the guy from robotics she's been seeing lately."

* * *

As Doom enjoyed a romantic dinner (unaware of the controversy brewing over her creative use of Bohemian Rhapsody as a warning signal), a certain amount of skulduggery was afoot within the confines of Mars Base One. Jarred Kinderman had created a small overriding receiver and was about to show the first one to a friend he hoped was on the level, and not a secret member of the Deep Council.

"Hello Jarred, I haven't seen you once since you got back from space; welcome home" Barry Fine smiled when he saw who stood at his front door.

"Hi Barry; it's good to be back" he said as he signalled his friend to be silent.

As Barry wondered what his visitor was up to, Jarred set up a sound deflector on each side of the room. He then took a small band from his pocket and placed it on Barry's wrist.

"Sorry to do this but believe me, it is necessary" Jarred insisted. "Now I want you to listen carefully to the words I am about to say."

Barry nodded and even though he was very confused, he trusted Jarred enough to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

"Fruit Bat" Jarred said as Barry stared at the wrist monitor.

Looking at the readout on his tablet, Jarred could see there was no change to Barry's blood pressure or heart rate to the first of the control phrases, so he continued.

"Light emitting diode" Jarred continued before using the loaded words "Deep Council."

Barry continued to look slightly confused, but when there was still no change to the readout, Jarred was satisfied his friend had never heard of the Deep Council and so it was time to move on.

"Is this some kind of crude lie detector?" Barry asked about the band on his wrist.

"It could be used that way I suppose but I just wanted to test your knowledge of a certain subject."

'Fruit bats, light emitting diodes and a Deep Council" Barry pondered "It would have to be the last one."

"Just forget about it for now and have a look at this" Jarred said as he handed the Overriding Receiver to Barry.

"Hmmm... Cat6 Ethernet connections, looks like it was designed to be fitted between a LAN cable and whatever that cable is connected to."

"Very astute of you" Jarred said "How many of these would we need to fit out every monitor on the base?"

"Over four thousand" Barry noted.

"How about if we just outfit the big screens only?" Jarred asked "The ones in the living rooms of every home and in all the main offices."

"You could probably get away with just under a thousand" Barry replied.

"I've got a machine turning out about sixty per day" Jarred said "Can you get your maintenance team to start fitting them straight away?"

"Yes but they'll want to know why... and so would I."

"You I can tell, but we'll have to come up with an excuse for everyone else."

"Lay it on me J-man."

Barry sat down and began to listen as Jarred told his tale of discovery. Was it Barry's mouth or eyes that grew the widest? It was difficult to tell.

* * *

The electric vehicle carrying Linton and Henry drove a few kilometres away from the gate where Shifty had left them, before doing a sharp right turn and heading into a tall canyon. Only a few hundred meters further on they came to the entrance of a tall, twin lane tunnel with thick metal doors. As soon as all the buggies were inside, there was a deep rumble as the doors began to slowly close behind them.

"I've got a really bad feeling about this" Henry declared.

"Yes you said so once before" Linton noted.

The tunnel they travelled down had a slightly elevated walkway about a meter higher than the road and the whole set up looked very familiar. Any resemblance to the Railgun Complex was confirmed when the far end of the tunnel opened up into a huge room with a high curved ceiling, just like the one in West Sumatra where all the half dead trucks and construction machines had been stored for fifteen years. The obvious difference though, was this room was lined with triple bunk beds where hundreds of people would sleep. In front of the bunks were tables and chairs as well as a small number of people, mostly children along with some supervising adults.

After passing through into the corridor at the far end of the room, the party continued to drive through the same set up they had left behind in Sumatra, but with some very obvious differences. The clean rooms at home, where the various teams would manufacture and assemble the Mars Supply pods, did not exist here. Instead there were filthy overcrowded workshops where Linton and Harry saw countless people going through piles of scrap metal to find anything they could use to make something new or to repair something old. Every now and then they would see a farm tractor, backhoe or other piece of equipment, sometimes almost complete but usually nothing more than a frame surrounded by parts.

Further in, there was a factory room full of pipes and tanks, and they recognised the distinctive aroma of bio-fuel being refined. Twenty minutes after they had left the light of day behind them, the carts passed by a checkpoint staffed by at least fifteen armed guards. The other side was just as filthy, but only for the first few hundred meters along the corridor. As they drove around a nearby corner, the entire place took on a very different look and feel.

"I would have expected to see this place get worse the further we went in" Linton whispered "but look how clean it is here?"

"Even the air is better" Henry noted "Not just fresher, but positively fragrant."

Both men recognised the next corridor they travelled down as the same style in their home complex, but instead of passing underground farms, they drove by were doors and they all shut tight. Henry managed to get a quick peek inside one of the massive rooms when someone stepped outside and he was surprised to see it full of grape vines.

"I don't get it" he said to the Professor "This place is surrounded by food producing crops, so why are they using all this space for bio production as well?"

"We did too I suppose but then again, we were locked underground with no other choice" Linton replied.

The buggies finally stopped at the entrance to the last room but when Henry went to step down, he was ordered not to move. The commander of the guards walked over to an intercom by the door and pressed the talk button.

"Prisoner is here sir" he announced "and we've brought the other one too."

"Bring them in" a frail voice replied.

The inside of the room was a complete surprise to Henry and Linton. The arched roof was just as high as the ones back in West Sumatra, but the ceiling was coloured a brilliant sky blue and even had clouds projected from some unseen source. Small trees and hedges grew along the side walls seventy meters away, giving the entire place the basic illusion of infinity; they could tell they were still inside, but the outdoor feel was very pleasant. A gravel path wound its way down the centre of the room with symmetrical garden beds on each side. Occasionally the artificial sunlight was broken up by the canopy of a tree or a section of pergola and although there were wooden benches every fifty meters, the weary men were not permitted to rest.

"I don't know where we're going, but couldn't we have driven there?" Professor Adisa asked after they had walked half a kilometre.

"No vehicles permitted in here, except in an emergency" came the terse reply.

Eventually they found themselves walking along a winding section of path with a more rainforest look of tall ferns and other semi tropical plants but when they emerged on the other side, they were greeted by none other than a rose garden. Sections of manicured lawn framed a small stone cottage with a green tiled roof in the centre of the roses, but it was to the left of the cottage where they finally saw the person they were being taken too.

The elderly man was hunched over one of the rose bushes; he turned when he heard the group approach, but his back did not get any straighter. A wheelbarrow half filled with cuttings stood next to him and after he had placed his secateurs down in it, he removed his gardening gloves.

"Oh for heaven's sake take those silly things off' he waggled a bony finger at the handcuffs on Linton's wrists.

"But sir he's... EFA."

"He's bloody harmless, that's what he is" the old man insisted.

He wandered over to the commander and steadied himself on the soldier's arm.

"Linton Adisa is not a member of the EFA" the old man whispered "so get out and leave us alone."

"We'll be over here if you need us" the commander pointed to the edge of the rainforest.

"I told you to get out."

"If I could just leave one of my men..."

"GET OUT!" the old man shouted.

When the commander saw the old man clutch his chest and breath deeply, he decided it would be best not to upset him anymore.

"Follow me men" he ordered as they marched off.

"Idiots" the old man sniffed as he started to walk back to the cottage.

Linton was happy when one of the soldiers had removed the cuffs, but the whole situation still seemed more than a little odd. He looked over at Henry who just shrugged, so they followed the old man to the bench he was now sitting on.

"So... Professor Linton Adisa, as I live and breathe" the old man grinned "I thought you would be long dead by now."

This comment surprised both men for although Linton was in his eighties, the man on the bench looked like he was pushing the big century.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"This is Doctor Henry Deming... I mean Dias; Henry Dias" Linton corrected himself "I'm still not used to this."

"Dias..." the old man pondered "You're not April's husband are you?"

"Hardly" Henry shook his head "I'm her father in law."

"Of course, I should have remembered. Your son really made life difficult for me; falling in love with the wrong girl. It was not as if he did not have plenty of young women to choose from."

"No matter how hard you try, love won't always turn out the way you want" Henry grinned.

"All the other single Mars candidates managed to do the right thing."

"Only because they were all kept isolated from all other people during training and only permitted to socialise with each other" Henry noted "so they didn't really have much choice."

"Then how did your son end up meeting April?' the old man barked "She should not have had any contact with the colonists in training, because she wasn't going to Mars."

"April was one of the trainers" Henry smiled.

"And I'll bet you assigned her to that position, eh Adisa?"

"No, I was the one who did that" Henry admitted "But I did it on purpose to help get April back on the candidate list. Funny though how out of all the men she helped train in plant biology, it would be Luis who fell for her."

"You're very lucky I did not find this out back when it happened, or you would have met with a rather nasty and quite fatal accident" the old man pointed a bony finger at Henry.

"What on earth has it got to do with you anyway?" Linton asked accusingly.

A cheeky smile formed on the man's wrinkled old face.

"You still don't recognise me, do you? Not surprising really since I have had two heart attacks and a mild stroke since we last saw each other, but look carefully."

Linton did indeed look closely at the man, whose face resembled a half deflated pink balloon with cobwebs on the sides.

"Redding?" he wondered "Prime Governor Redding?"

"It took you long enough."

* * *

Smit Cloud Dancer put down his pitch fork when he heard the truck approaching; it seemed like a good excuse to stop turning the compost. He recognised the vehicle as the one used to take produce from the western side of the ranges to the bunker but was surprised to see his son driving it.

"What on earth are you doing here in that thing?" he asked when the truck stopped.

"Give me a hand Dad" Shifty called out as he hurried to the back.

He dropped the tailgate and pulled himself up inside. The sound of clanking metal preceded his return as he handed down a red jerry can. When his father had taken the first can, Shifty dropped back down and took a green can out.

"This one is ethanol and yours is bio-diesel" he said "Let's get them inside before someone sees us."

The two men hurried into the nearby barn and shut the door behind them. Smit brushed some loose hay off of the cellar door and pulled on the rope.

"Where did you get two full cans of fuel?" he asked.

"I've got these too" Shifty said as he pulled the cartridge boxes from inside his jacket.

"What the heck did you do Alvin?" Smit shook a little.

"I didn't steal them Dad; they were given to me... as a reward I think."

"A reward for what?" Smit looked suspicious.

"Okay listen to this; a sailing ship arrived yesterday and the people on it start unloading all this stuff and when it's assembled, they've got four small tanks but with no guns on 'em. We figured it was raiders so Gavin sets himself up in a good sniping position and I go down this morning before first light to give 'em the usual ultimatum to get lost. They tell us they're not raiders and one of them even introduces himself as none other than Professor Linton Adisa."

"The head EFA guy?" Smit gasped.

"Yeah but he says he's not with the EFA."

"Well he would say that" Smit huffed.

"That's right; so we take him into the Western Settlement, where I borrow the truck to take him and one of his friends over to the bunker. The leader of the gate guards is really impressed and gives me the cartridges, then tells one of his men to give me all the fuel I can carry. The guy at the gate don't seem in any hurry and they just start talking among themselves about this surprise arrival, so eventually I gets up the nerve to ask them if I can have the fuel I was promised and one of them goes off to get the cart. They really took their time, which turned out to be good because I'm still pumping fuel into the truck when the prisoner escort guys get back and I can overhear what they're gossiping about."

"Well don't keep me in suspense" Smit begged when his son paused for dramatic effect.

The big boss wanted to see the prisoner and his friend... alone; no guards, no escort and no handcuffs" Shifty almost whispered.

"Isn't that a little bit of a risk with someone from the EFA?"

"That's just it Dad; according to the boss, this Professor guy isn't EFA, just like he claimed."

"So why was he on the danger list?"

"No one seems to know" Shifty shrugged "I think it's time for Velma to dust off the ol' Mystery Machine."

* * *

 **Considering I know everything worth knowing, I'm thinking about changing my name to Google.**


	61. Chapter 61

**I'm not sure, but I suspect the first few bits of this chapter may have been mentioned before. In the end I decided Redding needed re-introducing anyway.**

* * *

Chapter 61

Who Do You Think You're Kidding?

Long ago, at the time of the first meteor fall, the Earth had its usual varied forms of governmental rule. Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chancellors, Premiers, Kings, Queens and Emperors all had their place in the grand scheme of power. The old ways though soon came to a close after the first strike and although things did not change overnight, it did not take long for some behind the scenes manipulation to occur.

When the truth about the Sholf-4 asteroids regular rendezvous with Earth was released to the world, the Mars Colony plan became accepted as humanities only hope for the future, and many governments, companies and individuals also realised there was a real danger of a concentration of power in the Mars Project. The first fingers of paranoia were pointed at the United States because of NASA and its private partner's development of deep space hardware, but it did not take long before China had the spotlight shone on its plans for a Space Station of its own. It was all nothing more than irrational fear though because although both nations had the capability to get a few people to Mars, they could never hope to start a viable, self sufficient colony in the short term without a lot of help from every other nation. It would have been hard enough before the first meteor, but imposable after many had fallen.

As an oversight of the entire operation, each and every nation was asked to appoint a single representative known as a Governor who would represent their country. The Governors originally had very little real power and were merely to act as a two way communications liaison between those building the Mars systems and the nations providing all the resources.

All this changed when the Earth First Alliance moved from being a protest movement, to a violent military force intent on stopping all work on the Mars Project in favour of full on production of deep underground survival bunkers. If an EFA unit were to undertake an attack across national borders, it was difficult for any nations forces to fight back without causing an international incident so in desperation, the military forces being used against the EFA were put under the control of the group of Governors. As the decades past, with more and more countries being hit hard by meteorites, the largest ever armed force ever assembled ended up being controlled by a single body, led by a single man known as the Prime Governor; a man who these days spent his time living in his own personal habitat, indulging in some of the finer things of life.

"In 1878, a man named Benno Seppelt started the Centennial Cellar at the Barossa winery founded by his father Joseph back in 1851" Redding explained as he poured himself a small glass of Liquor Tawny Port.

"You will have to excuse me for asking, but so what?" Professor Adisa shrugged.

"I shall tell you if you will allow me" Redding snorted "Benno selected a five hundred litre barrel of the finest wine and set it aside in the cellar and continued to do so every year until his death in 1931, but the practice he started was continued year after year so his plan could be fulfilled. Then in 1978 the first bottles of Seppelt Para 100-year-old Tawny Port were released, beginning what would be the world's only unbroken lineage of single vintage wines spanning more than 130 consecutive vintages."

"I still don't know why you're telling us all this" Linton shook his head

"Don't you understand yet?" Redding sighed "You are Benno Seppelt; when he started laying down wine for a hundred years, he knew he would not be around to enjoy the result himself, but he did it anyway for others who would come after him; year after year, barrel after barrel. You my friend did the same thing; and yet in spite of all the sacrifice and effort you put into the Mars Project... there was a time when I would've gladly killed you myself."

"Hence having me on a list of EFA leaders" the Professor sighed again.

"Indeed; you were one of the few people who was impossible keep under full control" Redding smirk turned to a severe frown "Always flitting from country to country, organising and co-ordinating, modifying the plans I had so carefully put into place; if you hadn't been so successful with the Mars Supply Project, I think you would have met with an untimely end during your travels."

"So instead you locked me up inside the Sumatra Railgun for fifteen years."

"Kept you out of my hair; and besides if I hadn't, I'm sure you would have started replacing all that equipment you lost when the tanker was destroyed" Redding guessed.

Linton and Henry glanced at each other when they realised Redding did not know they had the ship and its contents in their possession.

"Yes and I still would be... if there were any hope of doing so, but it's clear now there is no chance of that happening" Linton tried to sound convincing.

"Happy to see you've come to your senses at last" Redding smiled.

"So in the end, was it you or the EFA who finally sank the ship?" Linton asked.

"I am the EFA you fool!"

Henry and Linton had a very hard time believing Redding's statement; instead of a confession, it sounded more like the ravings of a crazy old man.

"But you led the fight against the EFA; how could you be part of it?" the Professor asked in doubt.

"I didn't say I was part of the EFA, I said I was the EFA."

The old man poured himself another glass of Para Tawny and smirked at the other two men present. The confusion he had put on their faces tasted almost as good as his wine.

"Oh come on Adisa; surely even you can see it would have been only a matter of time before a serious fight would have broken out over the Mars plan. By starting my own enemy force, I could control the entire war through the various Project Governors."

"How the hell do you control a war?" Henry gasped.

"Not easy, but possible" Redding declared proudly "To put it simply I would pick a target, like a convoy of rocket parts bound for a launch site, and tell a military force to the north the convoy was being attacked by the EFA from the south; then I would tell the force in the south that the EFA was attacking from the north, and then they would go and fight each other. All I had to do was to call off each side after a short battle and as long as one plane, one tank or one soldier on each side made it back alive, I could tell them both their defensive action was a success and the EFA had been driven off."

"It can't have been that simple" Linton declared doubtfully.

"Of course it wasn't; I had to keep most of the Governors in the dark about what was going on, convince nations they were not being attacked by other nations and there were many other problems to solve, but we did it. Mars base happened precisely the way the Deep Council planned; well... almost."

"Deep Council?" Linton considered the name "You had a secret ruling body?"

"The Earth members of the Deep Council have pretty much retired, but those on Mars still control the planet from behind the scenes."

"But why; what was in it for you?" Henry asked "Wasn't it enough just to protect humanity's future?"

"Idealistic and hypocritical as always Dias" Redding sneered "You were not the only one to give your child away to ensure their chance to leave the Earth."

"Maybe we should change the subject" Linton suggested.

"You just want to dig for more information" Redding could see right through the Professor.

"I wouldn't mind knowing what this place is exactly" he admitted.

"Don't you recognise it?" Redding smirked.

"Again with the guessing games" Linton sighed "Yes I can see it is just like the Railgun Complex, but there are quite a few differences."

"And the main one is there's no Railgun here" Redding admitted. "The funny thing is, this is exactly what the EFA was demanding. Hundreds of giant bunkers deep underground where thousands of people could live in relative safety."

"We didn't see anywhere near that many people" Henry stated.

"And besides, shouldn't a room like this be more of a farm rather than a Botanical Garden?" Linton added.

"Perks of being me" Redding grinned like a toothless Cheshire Cat "There are about a hundred people down here; fifty outsiders, about twenty guards and the rest are all former leaders of government and industry with living spaces just like this; but whereas I get one to myself, they have to live in little towns of about ten homes per room. Cosy but still very spacious; here let me show you."

Redding picked up a remote control and pressed a button. A floor to ceiling curtain began to open revealing a large monitor screen surrounded by several smaller screens. When the curtain was fully opened, the screens all lit up with a combination of data and images from security cameras. The old man reached for a keyboard and mouse on the nearby coffee table and after navigating through a few menus, brought up two plans on the main screen. Linton and Henry noticed the bottom one showed the room Redding's house was in, surrounded by gardens and small forests.

"As you can see on the top, the large rooms where you would have farms or production facilities are set up as lovely rural communities where those of us who could not go to Mars can live in very civil circumstances."

"Wait a minute" Linton interrupted "Why only a hundred people? If you've converted these cavernous rooms into micro environments, you should have at least five times the number."

"We have fewer actually; the guards and the outsiders do not go further than the last checkpoint, so there are about thirty living in areas like mine."

"Hang on" Henry's turn to interrupt "What do you mean by outsiders?"

"What do you think I mean by outsiders? They're the people who live outside! They don't know about what is deep inside because they are only allowed in to work here in shifts and only in the outer sections."

Redding could see Adisa and Dias were even more confused so he spelt it out for them.

"The farmers and those like them outside, do not know how big this place really is. They think it is little more than a storehouse for food and equipment for whenever there is a meteor related disaster. Then when the crops are wiped out, there are enough supplies being stored in here to keep everyone going during the rebuild. Fifty people at a time are allowed in to build and fix the machines they use in farming; they live in the workshops during the week their inside, while the rest all live outside. It is kind of like a lottery where everyone hopes there will be no meteor related disaster while they are outside, but they can feel safe for the week they are in here; the current group are moving back out in a few days."

"So you are using those people as virtual slave workers to provide the necessities of life while you live in safety and comfort" Linton hissed in disgust.

"They think they are only storing supplies for themselves and if you don't like the idea Professor, you'd better get used to it because this is your new life now."

Linton and Henry glanced at each other again; what was happening did not make any sense to them.

"Hold the phone; are you saying we are prisoners here as well?" Linton Adisa gasped.

"Think of yourselves more along the line of guests" Redding grinned "We'll find you a nice home in one of the environments and you will live very comfortably. You see Professor, now that I don't have to worry about you sending more people to Mars and overpopulating the base, I don't feel the need to have you killed anymore; and I do like the idea of keeping you around to chat, play chess and things of that nature. All the other people down here are just like me; selfish and narcissistic, so conversations can be more than a little dull."

Redding picked up a small communications device from his desk and pressed a green button.

"Yes sir?" a voice came through.

"Professor Adisa and Doctor Dias will be staying on with us; please organise AA Plus accommodation for them."

"Right away sir" the lackey replied "Will this be a permanent arrangement sir?"

Redding thought for a moment and smiled when he saw the look of horror on Linton's face.

"Only as permanent as I am; after I die they are free to go if they wish" Redding ordered.

He replaced the device on his desk and sat down in a very plush chair.

"You have always struck me as a man of principals Professor" Redding smirked "I'll be interested to see how much time will pass before you try to kill me just to get out of here."

"I've spent fifteen years underground in a place nowhere near as nice as this one" Linton smiled sweetly "What makes you think I'd want to leave?"

Henry was very surprised to hear Professor Adisa talk this way, but Redding saw right through him.

"Don't think for one moment I am anywhere near as gullible as you once were" Redding's sneer soon turned to an evil smile.

* * *

Doctor Sarah Spencer literally fell backwards onto her bed and was soon half asleep. With Luis Dias wanting to leave Earth orbit as soon as possible, the Processing Pods bound for the Asteroid Belt all needed to be launched quickly. Fortunately two sets of five were almost ready to go and a third set could be completed in less than a week. Using the MTV and its powerful VASIMR engines to start the Pods on their journey would shave months off their travel time. Day after day of solid, mind numbing organisation had left Sarah feeling like the human equivalent of a shipwreck, but she still jumped in surprise when something wet lightly touched her ear.

"WHAH!" she yelped

"Oh Jeffery you little swine" Sarah sighed as she picked up the naughty cat.

The Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock huffed in distain. He knew if he hadn't been there, Sarah would not have been surprised in the slightest, but he was never given the credit he so rightfully deserved. He decided to go on a little holiday and leave the Stormy Petrel of Mild Surprise in charge of making people gasp for a few weeks.

"You want some dinner I suppose" Sarah said as she carried Jeffery into the kitchen.

The tinkling of his little bell was almost unnoticeable as it was drowned out by the loud purring Jeffery emitted; he sounded like an idling diesel engine. With the hungry cat taken care of for a few minutes, Sarah poured herself a glass of water and leaned back on the counter as she drank.

"Would it be alright if I went bed now Your Majesty?" she asked the cat.

As if in answer to her question, there was a tapping at her door. Jeffery the Jingle Cat turned his head at the sound before looking back at Sarah. The disgusted look on his face seemed to say 'whoever it is, get rid of them; I'm still eating here.'

Opening the main door, Sarah was not sure what surprised her more; seeing Ursula Linwood standing there or noticing she had a big white cat in her arms too.

"Oh... has Moon been bothering you?" she asked.

Ursula smiled as she looked into the eyes of the stocky feline, who just sat comfortably and purred.

"Not at all; I'm just taking him back to our quarters" she revealed "I volunteered to look after him now Blue is gone."

Sarah's face suddenly went a little pale and Ursula was sure she knew why.

"I had a feeling you were just putting on a brave face for everyone" Ursula nodded "I was just down in the staging area, doing my usual complaining about how no one appreciated what it was like for me to have lost my daughter, when this tall Samoan guy casually says you have just lost someone who was like a son to you. I came to apologise for being so self centred and to see if you were okay."

"That would be Peter Moke" Sarah smiled "but as you said, Blue isn't really my son... and he's finally got his real family back; so I don't think I have the right to be upset about anything."

"I think it would be good if we talked about it though... for a while at least" Ursula smiled "May I come in for a minute?"

Without waiting for a reply Ursula stepped in and closed the door. Sarah really needed to get to bed, but she also knew it would be nice to talk things over with someone who really knew how he felt.

* * *

 **I just read something very interesting. In 1902 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described Sherlock Holmes as 'A man of iron.' Then in 2009 a movie was made with an actor playing Holmes who had just starred as... Iron Man.**

 **Where's the Theremin music when you need it?**


	62. Chapter 62

**Finally got my laptop back from repairs and took it on todays bus trip. I didn't have this story loaded so I couldn't work on it, but then another idea came to mind. I'm happy to say work has begun on this year's Snoggletog story to be published closer to Christmas eve (yay).**

* * *

Chapter 62

Self Emancipation

Twenty six meters long and two levels high, the blue over silver aluminium Surfliner railway carriage looked a strange sight as it rumbled slowly down the road west of the deserted city of San Diego, but it was a good find for Reed Branson and his crew. The state of the road surface was far from perfect as it had not seen a repair team for over forty years, but the hydraulic rams on the top of each Bull Ant unit kept the old railcar level enough to keep it from tipping. The crew of the One and All had removed all seats from the top deck before loading the batteries and supplies in the lower section, keeping the centre of gravity as close to the ground as possible.

"You look like you're getting used to driving this thing" Captain Branson nodded approvingly.

"Thank you Sir" Jack Sumner replied "I have to admit it is the machine doing the driving more than me; it's easy to control with the joystick... and driving at little more than a fast walking pace helps too."

The control panel had been mounted on the sill of a broken window at the front of the upper deck. Jack was fortunate to have a very wide field of vision, but there was also the view from the monitor screen to assist him. Most of the One and All crew members remained near the ship, but there were two of them walking a few hundred meters ahead of the railcar. One held a rifle and was tasked with protecting the other who was flying a small Helicopter Camera Drone a few kilometres ahead. The vision from the flying unit was received by the Bull Ant control panel and showed on the monitor so Jack could choose the right course to avoid anything impassable.

"We've got the route mapped out for the next few kilometres" Reed spoke into his hand held radio "Take the camera out for a wide sweep and see if there is anyone in the area."

"Will do Sir" the helicopter pilot replied.

The steady view of the road ahead soon gave way to a panoramic sweep of the area. As the distant vision changed, Reed saw something very pleasing on the screen; just out beyond the high country and in between decades old meteor scaring, the camera drone was showing a large area of farming settlement.

"Do you think the Professor and Doctor Deming are down there somewhere Sir?" Jack asked.

"Well it looks like a good place to start asking questions at least" Reed Branson replied "and don't forget, its Doctor Dias now."

"Sir; did you see that?" Jack pointed to the monitor screen.

As the camera had continued to pan back towards the Bull Ant crawler and the two men patrolling ahead, the screen briefly showed a man darting behind a pile of boulders twenty meters from the road.

"I'm pretty sure he was armed Sir."

Reed grabbed his radio and ordered his men back to pull back immediately to the Bull Ant and land the camera drone. They did as ordered, clambering up the ladder and pulling it up behind them.

"Stop in another fifty meters" Reed said softly as he scanned ahead.

"Fifty meters; aye Sir."

Reed Branson left the upper deck to seek out the only member of his team he felt he could not rely on; he found the man using their supplies as protection, should any bullets start flying.

"Come out of there and tell me where we are" the Captain ordered.

Maximilian DeGroot did as he was told while looking around like a timid rabbit. He unfolded his map and laid it on an unused seat.

"Based on our speed and general direction of travel, I would estimate we are due east of San Diego around this area" DeGroot said as he pointed to the map.

"Is this the way you were going to take the Professor before he was kidnapped?"

"No Captain; we would have gone in a more north-easterly direction" DeGroot noted.

"So they wouldn't have taken him to that old Airbase" Branson realised.

"I'm not surprised Captain; it was long abandoned back when I was there."

With the Bull Ant now motionless, Reed Branson mover to the front of the old railcar and looked out the door. All was quiet and there was no sign of movement, but he knew they were not alone out there.

"AHOY THERE!" the captain called out "WE INTEND TO PASS BY; WE ARE SEARCHING FOR OUR FRIENDS AND HAVE NO INTENTION OF RAIDING YOUR SETTLEMENT."

All remained quiet for a short time while the man in the rocks considered his next move. Eventually he emerged and walked towards the strange vehicle with his rifle at the hip, pointed straight at Branson.

"You would be better off turning around and going back" the man sneered "EFA sympathisers are not very popular around here."

"None of us are with the EFA" Reed repeated his oft given answer.

"But you had one of their leaders on your ship" he accused.

"Professor Adisa is not EFA either; there must have been a misunderstanding. Listen... why don't you go down and tell your friends that we are on our way? When we get down to your settlement I'll explain everything."

The man considered Branson's offer briefly before rejecting it.

"I'll go tell 'em alright; and when you arrive, you will be shot at" he warned "So do yourselves a favour and turn back."

Without another word, the man backed off before turning and walking off down the road. Branson closed the door and went back to the upper deck of the railcar.

"Let's give the batteries an hour to charge up before we continue" he ordered Jack.

"You can't be serious" DeGroot gasped as he came up the steps.

"We can't just leave without trying to get the Professor and Doctor Dias back. Maybe if we can get someone to listen to us about all the work Adisa has put into the Mars Project, they'll let them both go."

"If it was me they'd taken, you would have left without the slightest hesitation" DeGroot said accusingly.

"No doubt I would have" Branson grinned as he slapped DeGroot on the back.

* * *

Olive Roux leaned back in her chair and sighed as she closed her eyes. A dark cloud had fallen over the base and did not look like it would be lifting anytime soon. No one on Mars was immune to tragedy, with each person having fond memories of the many friends and relations they had left behind on Earth, but this was the first time one of the Martian children had been lost in an accident and everyone was feeling it deeply. She wished she could come up with an idea, a plan to help the members of the colony to move on, but in the end she knew time would be the only help. She realised there was nothing more to be done this day so she decided to prepare for bed; but before she reached the bedroom, the door chime sounded.

"I hope I am not disturbing you" Florian said as the door opened.

"Not at all" Olive smiled and invited him in "I have definitely finished all work for the day; what can I do for you?"

"I know most people have been grieving our recent loss in their own way, but April would like permission to have a memorial transmission sent out to both bases in a few days time."

"I don't see any problem there, but do me a small favour; let me sleep on it and I'll talk with you again over breakfast."

Premier Roux thought it was a wonderful idea to give anyone who wanted to talk about their feelings regarding the MTV tragedy, an official platform to do so. Even so she knew she would have to check with the Deep Council first.

"Probably is a good idea for you to think about it for a while" Florian agreed "because I believe it is also the perfect time for us to come clean and clear the air about the formation of the Mars Project."

It felt to Olive as if her stomach had just solidified without warning. She had always believed the secret manoeuvring behind the scenes was unknown to Florian Klein because he had been on Mars since he was in his late twenties.

"C-clear the air?" she stuttered "What on earth are you talking about."

"I believe it is very important that we bring the secrecy behind the formation of the base to an end once and for all. We both know Luis and Abigail were murdered to keep them quiet and if we don't deal with it now, who knows what will need to be done in the future to keep the base personnel in the dark. If this colony is going to grow and succeed in the years to come, it has to do so openly and honestly."

"What the hell do you think you are doing Klein?" an electronically altered voice drifted through the room.

"Do you seriously think it matters if Roux knows I'm on the Deep Council?" Florian sighed.

"It was not your decision to make" the voice replied.

Olive just stood back and kept quiet, unsure of what to think of the argument unfolding before her.

"And that is the real problem with the Mars colony; so many people thinking they are making decisions and working hard to build a free society" Florian argued "So what do you think will happen if they all unexpectedly find out the truth? I think now is the perfect time to own up; to take possession of all the clandestine manoeuvres we have taken. If we wait until someone finds out accidentally, we will have lost the chance to explain our actions and will have to go down in Mars history as nothing more than a group of selfish, power hungry elitists. Wise leaders know when the time has come to step down from power, while dictators will step on anyone and everyone just to stay on top."

"Are you calling us a bunch of dictators?" the voice said accusingly.

"It really depends on how far you are willing to go" Florian accused "History is full of people who were prepared to go to any length to stay in power, but consider those who brought about great change even though they knew it would weaken them; Mikhail Gorbachev and F. W. de Klerk to name just two."

"Mars is not a communist state" the voice hissed "Nor is it under apartheid... and no one is going to give you the Nobel Peace Prize for this either."

"I'm not after a prize, but I do want to leave behind a free Mars when I die, even if it means losing the respect of everyone on the planet" Florian stood his ground.

"And you expect us to just go along with your plan? Did you ever consider the effect it would have on the rest of us?"

"Yes I did and that is why I will do nothing without the backing of the Deep Council" Florian noted "Again I beg you to just think about what would happen if someone found out the truth; wouldn't it be better if the population heard the news from us?"

"And how would anyone find out? Would you tell them?"

"I have not and will not reveal what I know to anyone" Florian truthfully declared while leaving out the vital fact that April already knew.

"Just make sure you don't" the voice replied.

"It sounds like you have made up your mind already but I implore you all; discuss this and reconsider what you're doing."

Florian then left without saying anything more to Olive, who continued to stand in stunned silence.

"Do you think he'll say anything?" she said eventually.

"He'd better not if he knows what's good for him" the disembodied voice declared.

* * *

Calla looked out from the cupola, back along the spine of the MTV; she had not yet grown tired of watching the wheel section slowly turning around. There were constant thoughts flowing through her mind about the interplanetary ship and how cool it was when compared to first space ship she had flown a few weeks ago. True the Star Runner II looked impressive, like a cross between a sports car and something out of a movie, but with an interior space equivalent only slightly more than a large minivan, the Mars Transfer Vehicle gave her much more room to move around.

She also liked having both the opportunity to float around in micro gravity as much as she wanted, as well as enjoying the comfort of the simulated gravity wheel. As she stared at the pods attached to the centre of the spine, the truth of their origin began to hit her. A few days ago some of them had been sitting in the staging area, while the rest were still being fitted out. Calla had even touched some of them when they were on Earth and now she was part of the crew taking them out into the solar system to start a new chapter in space colonisation; she was helping to make history and it felt good.

"When you've finished day dreaming, there's a call for you" Abigail Dias said after floating silently up from behind.

Abigail could see she had startled Calla, who was desperately trying to look like she wasn't.

"Don't tell me Mom has got more to say?" she sighed.

"No it's that girl you told me about" Abigail informed her.

"DOOM!" an excited Calla pushed off and zipped past Abigail.

Flying through the front hatch, she almost ran into Major Dias as he came through from the opposite direction.

"Sorry sir" she apologised and then succeeded in crashing into the back of Blue's seat.

"I think that's her now" Blue said into the headset mic.

He removed the headset and handed it to Calla as she dropped into the other seat but before she put it on, she stared at Blue expectantly.

"Well..." she prompted.

"What?" Blue wondered.

"A little privacy please" Calla insisted.

"If you say so" Blue shrugged and floated away.

"MTV to Railgun; is that you Doom?" Calla said excitedly as she adjusted the headset.

"Hey Squirt; I was worried I wouldn't get to talk to you before you left."

"Technically speaking, we've already left" Calla reported "The engines have been on full power for almost ten hours but it takes a while to pick up speed. Blue's dad says we're just raising up our orbit before we head off towards the Moon in a few more hours."

"I thought you were headed to Mars" Doom noted.

"Apparently we're going to use the Moon's gravity to boost our velocity" Calla replied "Major Dias called it a slingshot manoeuvre."

"Never mind all the technical talk; I want to know why you're leaving me behind."

"Well I sorta had to" Calla protested "If Blue had brought me back down to Earth, it could have been years before he would get the next opportunity to get to Mars and see his Mother."

"I thought we were going to build a new colony on an asteroid or three" Doom said.

"That's where all the equipment we are carrying is bound for, but who knows; we may still be able to send some people to Mars as well" Calla noted.

"When will you know?"

"Apparently everyone on Mars will find out we're on our way very soon, then we'll know for certain; Blue's dad isn't really sure how everyone will react."

"Well I wish you good luck" Doom said to her friend "Ever since this weirdness started, I assumed we would go into space together, if we ever made it at all; I'm gonna miss you."

"From what I hear, you don't need me anymore; you've got my brother now."

"He's still a bit shy, but at least he's trying now."

"Maybe I should wish you luck too" Calla grinned.

"The guy in charge here is signalling me to wrap up now so I'd better say goodbye for now" Doom sighed.

"Bye Doom... I'll miss you buddy."

Down on Earth, Harriet Doom removed her headset and placed it on the desk in front of her. It was still hard to believe Calla was really going. The reality of the situation was much easier to comprehend for the youngest of the Linwoods as she stared off into the void of space through the window of the Orion capsule. She only had the chance to daydream for a few more seconds for she was snapped back into the real world when she heard Luis's voice from the navigation control computer behind her.

"Breaking orbit in thirty seconds" he said "This is it; we're on our way home at last."

Home; Calla thought she was leaving it behind, but it really all came down to perspective.

* * *

 **Here is a little helpful advice. Never use your favourite song as a ringtone because you won't want to answer the phone and shut off the music. I believe this is the real reason why so many teenagers always seem to be mad at Mom when she calls.**


	63. Chapter 63

**We had some trouble in my neighbourhood last night and the police ended up going around, asking everyone a few questions about what we'd seen and heard. When the officer asked me to tell him where I was between 4 and 5, I probably should not have answered Kindergarten. Did you know the back seat of a police car smells like strong cleaning chemicals?**

* * *

Chapter 63

How Much Can One Fan Take?

The memorial service was scheduled for early in the morning so those attending could take as much or as little time as they needed. The entire population of both bases had access to a live feed of the ceremony and although everyone knew it would be very emotional time, only a small group of conspirators knew the real reason why.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this" Ruth whispered as she entered the room.

"We've gone too far" April stated "There's no turning back now."

Olive Roux had organised a small stage to be placed at the far end of a hanger where the Mars Surface Landers (MSL) were refurbished and prepared for re-launch. The floor had been cleared of all machinery with row after row of white chairs put in their place. To the right of the stage was the MSL Sage, Luis and Abigail had ridden to the orbit station and the Kindermans had brought back on their return to Mars; it shone like it was new and had a black ribbon draped across the side hatch.

When the time had come to start, Premier Roux climbed onto the small stage followed by April, Florian and the Kindermans as well as a few of Luis's work friends. Saffron was originally meant to sit in the front row of chairs with Holly's family but April had insisted the children not be at the ceremony because she wasn't sure what to expect when she dropped her first bombshell; so they watched via the screen in Holly's home.

"Good morning" Olive Roux said from the podium "It has been over fifteen years since I arrived on Mars to take over the role of Premier on the Citizens Council and although we have had other personnel losses in that time, nothing comes close to the tragedy we have recently suffered. The crew of the Mars Transfer Vehicle were all vital members of the Mars community, as well as being our family and friends. It has fallen to me to give the eulogy for Neville Sage; a brave and dependable man."

Olive spoke for the next ten minutes about all the wonderful attributes possessed by Sage and the great contribution he had made to the Mars Colony Project. The people sitting behind Olive were not the only people in the base having to bite their tongues as they listened. Many people had questioned the inclusion of a man such as Sage in the list of colonists, because he appeared to have very little to offer when it came to the survival of humanity in the long term. At the end of her speech, Olive announced the next part of the programme.

"My good friend April Dias, who incidentally came to Mars with me on the last colonisation trip, has undoubtedly suffered the greatest loss and so has requested to give the first part of her talk via a recorded video message."

Olive then returned to the rear of the stage and sat next to April, who surprised the Premier with a casual comment.

"You're not going to like this next bit."

"What do you mean; why?" Olive asked.

April had no intention of answering the question and did not need to; because at that moment, the recorded message began to play.

"I know you were all expecting a memorial service to take place this morning, but I'm sorry to say I have been given some very disturbing information about this colony, how it formed and who is really in charge today."

"What are you doing April?" Olive gasped as the recording continued.

"Clearing the air" April replied.

The Barn Owl of Slow Realisation sprinkled a few downy feathers in front of Olive's face as she remembered April's words being spoken by Florian Klein only recently.

"What have you done Klein?" she hissed.

"She already knew Olive" he replied "I tried to warn you."

Some people noticed the arguing going on at the rear of the stage but most were glued to the screen as the image of April Dias revealed more and more information about the Deep Council, the attempted murder of Luis and Abigail and return of her long lost son. Eventually Olive realised something must be done; so she rushed to the huge screen and yanked the feed cord from the back before hurrying offstage to a small control panel, where she shut down the cameras broadcasting the event to those not present. Little did she know, that thanks to the work of Jarred Kinderman, Barry Fine and a few unknowing electrical engineers, almost the entire base still received a live signal from the Memorial Service via a thousand tiny receivers fitted to the backs of their monitor screens.

"I think we'd better end this service while I get to the bottom of all this" Olive addressed the room as she returned to the stage.

"You have got to be kidding" someone called out "I want to know more about this Deep Council; who are they and what have they been up to?"

"And more importantly, I want to know how safe are my own family" another called out "Will someone from the Deep Council have them killed if they also discover something they're not supposed to know?"

There was a general murmur of agreement with the statements and so April rose to speak. Before she reached the front of the stage though, another man stood up near the left aisle.

"Of course we all want to know what's really happened here but as a member of the recognised Mars Citizens Council, I think it would be best if we interviewed Doctor Dias and reviewed her evidence so we can bring the facts forward for all to see without confusion."

"I said it before and I'll say it again; you have got to be kidding" a voice from the centre of the room repeated.

* * *

Captain Branson frowned at the sight that lay before him; through his binoculars he could see a number of vehicles blocking the road ahead.

"That guy who had suggested we turn back has definitely told all his friends we were coming."

"Can we go around 'em Captain?" Jack asked.

"I don't think so; they've got the verges blocked and I get the feeling they would be mightily miffed if we drove over their crops; and by that, I mean an 'Open Fire' kind of miffed."

As well as the trucks and farm machinery, there were also hay bales stacked up to provide the defenders with somewhere to hide and large pieces of scrap metal, welded into effective road barricades. On Branson's order Jack Sumner brought the old railcar to a halt almost three hundred meters from the first of the obstacles.

"HELLO THERE" Reed Branson cried out "LOVELY DAY FOR A DRIVE IN THE COUNTRY, WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?"

"I don't think they were expecting you to say that" Jack nodded when no one replied.

The two groups just stared at each other for several seconds until Jack noticed something very important.

"They haven't shot at us yet; that must be a good sign."

"True... maybe I should try the direct approach" Reed thought out loud.

"I'M GOING TO WALK OVER TO YOU SO WE CAN TALK" he informed them "I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU DIDN'T SHOOT ME!"

"i'm not guaranteeing anything" the distant reply drifted on the breeze.

"Wish me luck" Branson said as he climbed down to the lower deck.

The two men on guard watched the farmers out of the broken front windows while trying to keep themselves hidden and with their rifles held low.

"Where's DeGroot?" Reed asked.

"Up the back, hiding inside a small fort he made from our supplies" one of the guards noted.

"Oh... I am so glad he is safe" Reed said sarcastically.

Lowering the ladder, Reed descended to the ground and began to walk forward. He kept his firearm holstered and his hands above his head, trying to look relatively harmless.

"That's close enough" a disembodied voice said from behind a stack of hay bales.

Reed stopped and lowered his hands as a man stepped out with a shotgun pointed straight at his head. The man frowned as he looked the Captain up and down before pulling a two-way radio from his vest pocket.

"West road to Central; any reports of Raiders in other sectors?" he asked.

"Noting so far today" the person on the other end replied "I'll just check on them all again and call you back in a minute or two."

"Shifty said you claimed not to be Raiders, but we'll see" the man grinned in a menacing way "Can't trust anyone these days but especially someone transporting an EFA leader."

"I assume Shifty is the young man who took Henry and the Professor" Branson said "And by the way; no one on my ship is part of the EFA."

"Then why was this Professors name on the list?"

"I didn't write the list so I can't tell you."

The radio crackled into life as the person on the other end verified there had been no sign of raids in any of the other sectors.

"Well that's one thing in your favour" the man revealed "Raider usually make a big show of force in one place while others sneak into other parts of the community and strip them of anything of value. If there had been a raid on, I would have blown your head off without hesitation."

"So we can pass by then?" Reed asked.

"NO YOU MAY NOT PASS BY! Have you got family on Mars stranger?" the man with the double barrel exclamation point asked.

"Not that I know of" Reed shrugged.

"Well I do... it may only be a distant cousin but you can imagine how much it upset me to hear talk of the EFA; the murderous bastards."

The man raised his gun and stared at Reed down the barrel.

"Firstly as I said before, none of us are EFA and secondly it's a fair bet that if you shoot me, one of my people will drop you before the smoke clears" Reed stated.

"Is that a threat?"

"Of course it's a threat you idiot" Branson replied "Does it sound like an invitation to a spring cotillion?"

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH; now I'll give you one last warning to walk away while you can still walk."

"Wait a minute" Branson looked at the shotgun closely "Your shotgun isn't cocked; do you even know how it works?"

"Of course I know how it works" the man protested angrily as he fumbled with the hammers.

"You know what? I don't think it's even loaded." Reed grinned "Do you have any ammunition at all?"

"Of course we have ammunition" he continued to protest "One of my men used a bullet keeping you in line back at the old city."

Reed could tell the man was getting flustered, and the odd way he answered made the Captain think back to what had happened when Linton and Henry were kidnapped.

"Used a bullet? As in a singular bullet? Do you keep count of..." the light suddenly came on inside Branson's head.

"You don't have much ammo at all, do you?" he smiled again "It has gotten so bad, you have to keep count of every shot; and I assume you only use your weapons to worry these raiders who have got you so jumpy."

"We're still capable of defending ourselves" the man sneered.

"You only have to defend yourself if you're attacked and we're not attacking."

Reed Branson was not sure how to deal with these people. On one hand he felt it would be best to try and make them feel at ease, but on the other hand they did have his friends as hostages.

"Listen up for a minute; we tried to tell the guy who took the Professor... what did you call him again?"

"Shifty" the man replied.

"Now there is a name that inspires confidence" Reed smirked.

"It's not his real name!"

"I would hope not" Reed pondered "If it was, his parents would have a lot to answer for. Anyway we tried to tell Shifty the truth about the Professor so now I'll tell you; when I met him, he and his team of people had only just finished sending equipment and supplies to Mars for decades. So if you have a distant cousin there, very distant considering where he is, then you should be thanking Professor Adisa for helping establish the Mars colony, not locking him up."

"We didn't lock him up" the man explained "Shifty borrowed a truck and took both men to the Bunker."

"The Bunker; what's that?" Reed wondered.

But before he received any kind of response, a girl in her late teens rushed forward from the vehicle barricade to the hay bales and called the man with the useless weapon.

"Dad... hey Dad!" she called.

"I told you to stay back Haley" the man scolded.

"But we just got word from central control; the scouts keeping an eye on this guy's ship say three more vessels have entered the harbour, and they were recognised as Raiders."

"So your back up has finally arrived" the man pointed both barrels at Captain Branson, who still believed it to be empty, but was not about to test his theory by risking his life.

"I swear they have nothing to do with us" he said as he raised his arms again.

"As if I would accept the word of a Raider" the man said "Now get your friends out of that vehicle; you're coming with us."

"If Raiders are on their way and you have limited ammunition, wouldn't it be better to let us stay here and help fight them off?"

"You mean so you can join them in the attack" the man sneered

"Oh... I never thought about it from that point of view" Reed pondered "But since I don't want to surrender to you..."

And so at that point, Captain Reed Branson turned tail and ran back to the Bull Ant. The man with the gun shook with frustration as his bluff was successfully called. Meanwhile back at the harbour, things were not going to plan for a certain raiding group. Unaware they had been spotted by the scouts watching the One and All, they sailed their three ships into the San Diego harbour. It was not long before they noticed the brigantine tied up at an inner pier and all hell broke loose.

"Hey Skipper; we've got company here" the bridge lookout informed the lead ship's captain.

Picking up his own binoculars, the red bearded man frowned when he saw Branson's vessel and the people on it scurrying about.

"That is a good looking ship" he grinned "Launch the boats and tell the men to try and take it intact."

"And if the people on board resist sir?"

"Then sink it" the captain replied sternly.

A few minutes later, two six meter aluminium boats and an inflatable were speeding towards the One and All with a full complement of armed raiders on board. Their attack did not get very far before the One and All's crew began to fire upon the speeding vessels with some very close warning shots.

"That does it" the man with the clichéd red beard sneered "Hit 'em with the deck gun."

As the covers came off the 50mm weapon, Reed Branson's crew realised it was time to get serious.

"What the hell..." Captain Ginger Beard gasped as a section of the rear deck of the One and All opened up and an impressive looking, modified rotary cannon rose menacingly and turned towards him.

"...oh crap" he stated.

* * *

 **Sometimes I don't think you all realise just how hard it is for us old people to cope with modern life. My older sister used to keep a diary when we were kids and she wrote all her most intimate thoughts in it. Needless to say she went nuclear when she caught me reading it. These days though everyone writes their intimate thoughts on facebook, then they get upset if no one reads it.**


	64. Chapter 64

**Sorry this one is a little late, had a few health problems this week including a mild cold and I didn't want to proof read with a dizzy head. Feeling better now so work can progress again.**

* * *

Chapter 64

Who's Fooling Who?

A target laser lit up a point, two meters from the enemy ships bow and only millimetres above the waterline. With an armed boarding party in the water and three men on deck rapidly preparing to fire, the One and All gave no further quarter as a hail of 20mm projectiles tore into the lead ship and opened up a hole over a meter in length.

Many miles away, on the western side of the farming settlement, Captain Reed Branson was trying to make radio contact with his ship. He desperately wanted to find out what had happened when the Raiders had arrived and when he finally got through to his crew, he definitely liked what he was told.

"HEY... YOU BEHIND THE HAY BALES" he shouted from the upper deck of the Bull Ant train.

Behind the afore mentioned hay bales, an impromptu battle plan meeting was going on, and desperation was the name of the game for those in hiding alongside the man with the empty shotgun.

"There's no way we can hope to hold them here Cid" one of the group stated.

"Yeah we should pull back and prepare an ambush" another agreed "I know fuel is scarce but maybe a few Molotov Cocktails will slow that thing down when that thing rolls into town."

"Maybe we should call in all the scouts with rifles to defend the main settlement" a third put forward.

Cid put down his useless weapon and considered what the others advice.

"They haven't moved yet, so I assume they are waiting for reinforcements before they attack" he said.

"All the more reason to..."

The conversation came to an abrupt halt when everyone noticed the growling of a midsized diesel engine with a bad muffler approaching fast from the east.

"It's Shifty" Haley told her father what he already knew.

The truck stopped behind the vehicle barricade and the young driver dropped down from the cab. As he walked forward, his mouth fell open with astonishment as soon as he set eyes on the large railway car sitting in the middle of the road.

"Far out!" he declared "They said the little tanks tracks were for transport but I never imagined..."

"Get down you idiot" Cid hissed "They're armed."

"Yeah but I found out some very interesting news back at the bunker."

"Never mind that for now" Cid declared "Three more ships just arrived in San Diego so you can be sure they'll be amassing on the northern border to prepare a two front raid."

Shifty ducked down with the others as they considered their next move.

"If only we had some ammo here" Cid sighed loudly.

"Will this do?" Shifty grinned as he pulled one of the ammo boxes from inside his jacket.

"What the... where did you get these?" Cid asked.

"They were really happy to get their hands on Professor Adisa back at the bunker."

"I suppose they would be pleased since we've captured the head of the Earth First Alliance" Haley agreed.

"That's the weirdest part about all this" Shifty looked confused "Yes they did take him captive, but I overheard the guards say he wasn't EFA."

"That is weird" Haley nodded.

"You know what also doesn't make sense?" Shifty continued "Raiders mostly hit at night or just before dawn; rush in, steal stuff and bug out. Why would they send this weird tank thing ahead of their attack?"

"It's not a tank, it's a railway car" Reed corrected them.

Everyone behind the hay bales jumped up in surprise, embarrassed by the fact they had all neglected to keep an eye on the strange vehicle. Cid looked from the shotgun on the ground to the box of rifle shells in Shifty's hand and cursed himself for bringing the wrong weapon.

"Relax everyone, I bring glad tidings" Reed smiled "You don't have to worry about the Raiders in the harbour anymore; we took care of them for you."

"What do you mean by took care of them?" Cid asked suspiciously.

"I tried to tell you but no one would answer me" Reed complained "I just received a message from my ship about three other vessels. When they tried to take my ship the One and All, we sank the lead vessel and the remaining two turned tail and ran. One of them got away but we took out the rudder on the other one and it is now beached on the northern end of the harbour; the crews of both ships are being held prisoner."

"You'd have to think I was mighty gullible to believe a story like..."

But before Cid could finish his thought, his radio crackled into life with a call from Central Control; he picked it up and replied nervously.

"This is Cid on the west road receiving."

"You're not going to believe this Cid" the voice from control declared.

"I'm starting to get a sinking feeling about this" he sighed.

"Funny you should say that because so did the Raiders. According to the scouts watching San Diego harbour, the newcomer's vessel opened fire on the three raider ships and sank one. They managed to disable second one too and took the crews prisoner. The scouts want to know what you want to do about it."

Cid looked at Captain Branson with embarrassment and surprise.

"Told you we weren't Raiders" Reed declared "Now could you please point the way to this bunker? I think it's about time we tried to get our friends back."

Cid thought for a moment before making a counter offer.

"Your vehicle is pretty slow, so I suggest we let it continue on to our settlement while you and I take the truck down to San Diego to see these prisoners? We should be back before your vehicle gets into town."

Reed screwed up his nose as he pondered the idea before holding out his hand.

"Agreed!" he stated.

Cid was not expecting this tough looking, weather worn man to be so agreeable, especially considering how he had felt about Reed only a few minutes ago, but eventually he reciprocated and the pair shook hands.

* * *

Although the Mars Transfer Vehicle had managed to pick up a lot of speed, when Calla looked back at the Earth it didn't feel like they were moving at all. Her home planet now looked smaller than the Moon, while the Moon looked like a big dull star. She only enjoyed looking outside when she was in the main body of the ship because looking out of the ring section made her feel nauseous; it just wasn't normal to see the stars slowly turning in circles.

"Dad's gonna make contact with Earth soon" Abigail informed her new friend "Do you want to sit in?"

"You bet" Calla smiled "Mom would go ape if I wasn't there to tell her not to worry."

As the girls floated off to fetch Blue from the rear of the MTV, Major Dias sat in the ring section, giving Doctor Spencer some worrying news.

"I still have not been able to make direct contact" he said "I know my messages are being held on the Orbit Station by Jarred's little spy rig, but no one on Mars will respond to any direct calls. All I get back is a message telling me to standby while the situation is assessed by the Mars Citizens Council."

"Well you're getting more than we are" Sarah replied "There hasn't been a single response to any of our attempts at communication."

"Well if they ever do stop assessing and actually talk to me, I'll see if I can find out anything useful" Luis promised "I can hear the kids climbing down the ladder so we'd better change the subject."

* * *

Blue and Calla soon took the opportunity to catch up with their friends and family on Earth, but back on Mars all conversations were much deeper and quite regulated. While work on the second base site went ahead without her, April Dias found herself in a very difficult situation with the Mars hierarchy.

"Thank you for coming to speak with us today."

The man who had greeted April was Marshal Baron; the new head of the Mars Citizens Council after the removal of Olive Roux. April had always considered him to be a friend but she had been quite annoyed by some of his actions lately. To be fair though, April had been annoyed by many people recently. Marshal spoke with April one on one to avoid the interview descending into an unorganised chaotic shouting match, but to his left a population cross section consisting of twenty colony members sat behind a transparent wall ready to send written questions to Marshal's computer screen while the whole base could hear her answers over the internal communications system.

"Thank you for coming they tell me" she repeated sarcastically "I've been trying to get you to listen to me for days."

"So much has been happening since your little surprise, we just had to take it one step at a time with our interviews and now it is your turn."

"Little surprise; is that what you call the revelation of a major conspiracy and the manipulation of the lives of every colonist on Mars?" April gasped.

"Please refrain from using such inflammatory language April" Marshal sighed.

"It's the truth" she declared.

"Unfortunately we have to impartially determine the truth without any more of your theatrics."

"THEATRICS?" April protested.

"Organising a memorial when you knew Luis and Abigail were alive, making a video presentation about your discoveries, it all sounds very theatrical to me."

"We didn't have much choice; with the Deep Council so entrenched, we knew it would not be easy to get the word out to everyone at the same time and none of us wanted to let differing stories and rumours drift about the base causing confusion."

"It seems to me like you were the one causing all the confusion, by letting us think the MTV crew were all dead."

"I'm talking about the control held by the Deep Council" April reminded everyone.

"How do you know this Deep Council is so bad?" Marshal read from his screen "With all the trouble back on Earth with the EFA, maybe the oversight and secrecy were a necessary part of making the Mars Project a success."

"Even if that were true, and I doubt it is, they should have ceased their operations over a decade ago and given back control of the base. Instead they let us just stumble on blindly thinking the Mars Citizens Council were in charge. Unknown to us Olive Roux was pushing the agenda of the Deep Council with the probable help of other members who were in both groups. Their influence is plain to see; just consider how long it took to get the second base started" April noted.

"So this is all about the difficulties you encountered in getting your own personal agenda going?" Marshal read.

"Don't be ridiculous" April countered "I was not the only one pushing for a second site; even Florian Klein, who was himself a member of the Deep Council, knew it should have been started a long time ago as well as more surface infrastructure spread over a larger area. We now know it was all to stop anyone from contacting Earth and accidentally learning about what had been done to our allies at the Sumatra Railgun site."

"How do you know this?"

"Personally I know they did not want any contact with the Professor Adisa to ensuring he wouldn't find out I was alive, also that I would not find out my son was alive, and no one would find out the supply tanker had not been sunk; thus stopping anyone else from leaving the Earth."

"So you admit the secrecy was necessary to prevent Mars from being overrun by refugees from Earth" Marshal accused.

"I do no such thing" April said with venom "Linton was not stupid and even now, when we could take more people if we wanted to, the people from Earth are instead looking to set up a new colony in the Asteroid Belt."

"Which could be used as a base to prepare an attack on our home with the intention of taking over" Marshal read.

"WHAT!?" April jumped up and rushed to the window.

"WHO THE HELL SAID THAT?" she thumped on the glass with both fists "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR PARANOID LIES!"

"APRIL!" Marshal barked "WILL YOU PLEASE... will you please... sit down."

"I think it's plain to see the high level of paranoia that has seeped its way into the entire base" April declared as she returned to her seat.

"So you fought fire with fire by starting a conspiracy to expose a conspiracy."

"Ours was only small conspiracy and it was never intended to last a short time; only long enough for us to get the word out and then everyone would be free to make their own decisions and draw their own conclusions."

"And you admit doing this with the help of Jarred's little receivers placed on all the major monitor screens" Marshal read an accusation sent to his computer.

"Yes; I felt it was the best way to ensure nobody would denied hearing the entire news" April admitted "I knew as soon as I started to reveal too much, the live feed would be cut and that is why we made sure the video message went out to as many as possible. Some people may not think I was justified in what I did, but at least I wasn't listening in on people's private conversations with hidden bugs."

The Mars colony may have been split in recent time into those who believed April and those who thought she had a hidden agenda of her own; but almost everyone believed in the recordings made by the Kindermans, showing Commander Sage admitting to his crimes. Everyone had also been shocked and disgusted upon finding out about the listening devices in every home; the very existence of these bugs gave April's accusations a certain kind of solidity.

"Hmm... this is interesting" Marshal read "Someone has again asked why you think the Deep Council were so bad, when you consider Olive Roux was so upset at the attempt on the lives of Luis and Abigail, and Florian Klein went to such extreme lengths just to ensure their killer did not return to Mars and put others at risk?"

April looked out at the people sitting in the adjoining room and wished she could find out which ones had posted all these questions. She had no way to know for sure, but it sounded like the kind of argument a member of the Deep Council would make.

She could tell it was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

 **Hey there young'uns; it's time for Ol' Man Martian to have another rant and this one is all about space.**

 **On this morning national news program, they mentioned today (September 25** **th** **2017) is the 50** **th** **anniversary of the first satellite launch from Australia (third country after Russia and the United States to do so) and so our Federal Government has finally decided the time is right for Australia to have its own Space Agency.**

 **ABOUT (*expletive deleted) TIME TOO!**

 **I do love this country but it has been so disheartening knowing I lived in one of the most backward places on the planet. Thirty years ago I wrote to the relevant minister to ask why we were being so slow to form an official agency and was told...**

" **Australia does not need a Space Agency because we have the CSIRO** **(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)."**

 **Now the CSIRO is a great organisation and I really enjoy the posts I get from them on Facebook, telling me about new discoveries and what is going on in the world of Aussie science. But it must be considered that they deal in all sorts of things like insect control, penguin eating habits, drought resistant wheat and high potency bull semen. Not exactly the kind of specialist space science that attracts the likes of NASA, JAXA, ESA and others looking for collaboration in space endeavours.**

 **This country has also been turning down membership in the ESA (European Space Agency) for about 35 years, (leading me to repeatedly hit my head on the door frame) while Canada has continued to gain so much from a similar collaboration. One of the recent developments that caused the re-think about the need for a Space Agency was the formation of one in New Zealand and their development of launch facilities.**

 **If you ever want to prompt an Australian politician into action, the best way is to point out that New Zealand is ahead of us. This poor attitude towards NZ by those in power (along with many other Australians) was the main reason I made Calla and her family Kiwis.**

 **So well done New Zealand; you beat us yet again, just like you do regularly in Rugby (respect to the All Blacks).**

 **Rant complete; time to take my medication.**


	65. Chapter 65

**Hello everyone; it's composition time. Who will be the first to spot the very subtle Simpsons reference in this weeks chapter?**

* * *

Chapter 65

Have You Had All Your Shots?

As another truck rolled into the outer warehouse of the Railgun complex, Amos Hooke moved the overhead crane into position over the shipping container it carried. The equipment inside would enable the construction of two new Additive Manufacturing Units and increase their production of composite frames for space structures. With the container placed near the side wall and the truck already on its way back out, Amos checked the task list on his tablet.

Everyone on base worked with a new impetus and feeling of optimism knowing Blue and Calla had succeeded in their rescue mission and were now on their way towards Mars with a full load of asteroid processing equipment. None of them had really expected to see Sarah's plan come together so soon.

"Put that away for now" Willow Pascal called out "I've got a new job for ya."

"Can't I finish my old job first?"

"No; follow me" she stated.

They left the warehouse together and headed to one of the drafting offices while Willow outlined what she wanted.

"Because we were able to make use of the MTV to send more equipment to the asteroid belt, Queen Sarah has had yet another idea."

"You know she hates it when you call her that" Amos frowned.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt me" Willow grinned.

"Until I tell her" Amos threatened "So what is it this time? Sarah seems to change her mind more often than I change my underwear."

It wasn't long before Amos realised Willow wasn't walking beside him anymore; he turned back to see her staring at him with a stern look on her face.

"You need to start changing your underwear more often" she scolded.

"I wasn't serious" Amos protested "Now what's the latest plan from Queen... I mean Doctor Spencer?"

"With so much processing and construction equipment already on its way, Sarah has decided we should start working on our own Interplanetary Ship built in orbit."

"Is she crazy?" Amos gasped.

"I've often thought so" Willow smiled.

"If we start constructing something in orbit, it's a foregone conclusion it will be smashed to pieces before it's even finished; I refuse to have anything to do with it."

"Who's a little rebel then" Willow pinched Amos's cheek as if he were a baby.

"Please... don't do that" he protested.

"Well I've got some good news for you" Willow smirked "I'm not telling you to build a spaceship; I need you to help the rest of the team, to design and build four tracking satellites."

"What are we going to keep track of?"

"Anything that could smash an Interplanetary Spaceship to pieces before we finish building it" Willow said plainly.

* * *

When Reed and Cid finally arrived in San Diego, they found the One and All crew all wondering if they should just let the captives go because no one really knew what to do with them. Cid had wanted to question them about who they were and where they had come from, but they all refused to tell him anything useful.

As Cid had promised, he and Reed left soon after and arrived back at El Centro by truck while the Bull Ant was still a few kilometres away, travelling slowly. A small farming community due east of San Diego was not the best place to keep prisoners, but they had to go somewhere and so they had been soon put to work in the fields for the time being. The prisoners didn't like the idea at first but were told if they didn't help out, then they wouldn't get fed.

"I know I shouldn't joke about it, but I did enjoy seeing the shocked look on your face when that Raider guy called you EFA scum" Reed smirked.

"Why would he say something like that?" Cid wondered.

The two entered a small but very solid looking building, followed closely by Shifty and Haley.

"I'm beginning to think everyone on Earth suspects everyone else of being an EFA sympathiser" Reed nodded "You accused Professor Adisa recently, and he in turn was worried about me and my crew back when we first met; the worlds gone crazy."

The group walked down a short passage passed a few empty offices and a radio room, to a small kitchen with very old furniture. Reed sat at the battered old dining table, on a battered old chair and considered how much the furniture reminded him of himself.

"All things considered, I really feel sorry now for taking you friends to the bunker and handing them over" Shifty hung his head "But at the time, I really thought I was doing the right thing."

"I think what annoys me the most, is knowing there were only a few of you with one rifle" Reed admitted.

"And I don't think I would have tried my bluff if I'd known about those guns you had onboard your ship" Shifty replied.

"The thing I don't understand is why you are so short of ammunition cant you make more?" Reed asked.

"We do, but the equipment and tooling we'd need is inside the bunker and we rarely get the opportunity to use it" Cid revealed.

"I don't understand" Reed looked a little confused.

"It's like this" Cid explained "At one time they made parts for rocket motors down there as part of the Mars Project. When that was all finished, we were offered the chance to make some use of the facility; both to house everything we'd need to rebuild if there was a catastrophic meteor event close by, and also to store food there so we could survive until the crops get going again. All the tools and machinery used to maintain our equipment are kept safe there as well."

"So all your machining is done underground like..."

Reed Branson stopped himself as he suddenly realised he should probably not talk about the Railgun Project to anyone just yet.

"...like... so... why not make what you need to defend yourselves?"

"We do but there is always so much to do" Cid explained "As you know, we all take turns living in the bunker. During my months on the surface, it's all about food production and defence, as well as a few running repairs to the farm machinery. But during the week I spend underground, it's non-stop fabricating parts for harvesters, refurbishing engines and gearboxes, and all that kind of stuff. I'll mill out a couple of shell casings if I've got the time, but there are more important things to do."

"So how do I get into this bunker and how do I get Henry and Linton out?" Reed asked

"Putting it plainly, you don't" Cid declared "The bunker has always been heavy on security considering its past role in the construction of rocket engines. About the only thing we could do is to tell the Security Guards that you have joined us and will be taking your turn inside some day."

"Tell me Shifty; when you overheard the guards say Professor Adisa was not with the EFA, did they know you overheard?" Reed gave a sly smile.

"Well... no; they always clam up when I'm close by so I kept out of sight behind the truck."

"Good I think I know how to make this work to my advantage" Reeds smile grew.

* * *

The artificial sunlight provided in the underground village gave all the comfort and benefits needed, but without any of the more dangerous Ultra Violet rays. The other residences were pleasant enough to Henry and the Professor, but it was plain to see they were suspicious of the newcomers. The small town was unlike Redding's personal garden; it had several cobblestone streets with quaint cottages along each one. Professor Adisa now lived halfway down Hibiscus Avenue while Henry Dias had a dwelling on the corner of Rose Terrace and Scarborough Way and when they weren't at the beck and call of the former Prime Governor Redding, the two men just strolled around looking for trouble; like the elderly delinquents they were.

"Can I ask why you are happy to just stay here and settle down?" Henry asked as they nodded a polite hello to a worried looking neighbour.

"You can ask" Linton replied with a wry smile.

Although there was no obvious sign, it was almost certain the two men were being observed and recorded at all times.

"I figure there is no point going back home because there is nothing more I can do there, since I have nothing left to work with" the Professor added.

Henry nodded in agreement. It was not only what the Professor had said, but also what he did not say where the clues all lay. It was true Linton had nothing to work with because everything had been handed over to Sarah Spencer's control. By using his words carefully, Linton could pass information to Henry without giving the game away to anyone eavesdropping on them. He would certainly prefer Redding continued to believe the ship was lost and all space launches had ceased.

"And you're happy not to go to the all places we'd planned for?" Henry continued.

"Maybe we still can someday, but I was only looking for information about what had happened in the world after we had gone into lockdown and this is as good a place as any to fish for clues. I'm sure Redding wouldn't mind us talking to people about the last fifteen years."

"I'm sure he wouldn't be shy about putting you straight if he did object" Henry noted.

* * *

Early the next morning, the truck from El Centro pulled up at the security gate near the bunker and two men alighted from the cab. When the guards on duty saw Shifty was with a stranger, they looked at each other in a kind of 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' kind of way.

"Who's the new guy?" the first guard asked as they both unshouldered their weapons.

"It's alright guys" Shifty smiled "He's a friend."

"You don't have any friends" the second guard noted and they both laughed.

Shifty had been dealing with people like these for most of his life and one definite way he knew would help put them at ease, was to feed them a straight line and let them feel superior.

"Yeah yeah, funny guys; real funny. This is Reed Branson and he is the leader of a small group of people who will be joining our community."

"Is this the guy who brought Adisa here?" the first guard asked suspiciously.

"Yeah he was a passenger on my ship" Reed admitted "You can just imagine how we felt when Shifty told us he was the head of the EFA."

"You expect me to believe that you didn't know who he was?"

"Honestly we didn't" Reed tried to look innocent; not an easy thing to do when you're built like a linebacker.

"Well what was he doing on your ship then?"

"We came across the Professor and Henry Dias on the other side of the Pacific" Reed admitted "He and his friends helped repair our ship and gave us all the supplies we could carry in exchange for passage to the USA. I thought it was a good deal at the time."

"So why are you two here anyway?" the guard asked as he walked around the back of the truck.

"We've got a load of food supplies for the bunker, along with some machinery that needs a little tender loving care" Shifty replied, throwing the back tarp open for inspection

"What kind of things?" the guard asked for no other reason but to prove he was in charge.

"There's a transmission from a harvester and a few boxes of smaller things" Shifty pointed them out.

"And why is this new guy here?"

"When I take my turn inside the bunker, Dad will be staying on the farm to find work for all the new arrivals while Reed will be taking Dad's place inside; so I brought him along to show what to expect.

"All right; you know the routine" the guard said as he stepped back.

Shifty signalled Branson to get back in the truck as the second guard pushed the button to open the gate. The trucks motor restarted under protest and the music of old grinding gears filled the air before the late 20th century relic bounced off on its way inside.

"That was reasonably painless" Reed noted.

"And now you've been introduced, they shouldn't get too upset when you come back in a few days" Shifty nodded.

* * *

Luis Dias leaned back in his seat and put his feet on the console. He knew he shouldn't put them up there but right now he just didn't care; the officials on Mars be damned. As he waited somewhat impatiently for them to contact him again, Luis smiled as he watched the main screen and saw three young people floating through the main body of the ship.

"We're moving through to sector 7G Dad" Abigail's voice informed Luis via the internal intercom.

"Confirmed" he replied "I've got you all on the monitor Sweetie."

"Dad... don't call me sweetie when I'm working" Abigail complained not realising she had stopped referring to her father as Major some time ago.

"Sorry Cadet" Luis smirked.

Watching his daughter as she ran over the ships systems with Blue and Calla, gave him a feeling of great peace in spite of all the trouble they had been through recently. He was also feeling quite proud of his son, listening intently and learning about the ship from his younger sister. He knew there was a great debt owed to Doctor Spencer and the others in the Railgun complex who had taken such good care of Blue, but it was a debt he could never repay. Perhaps the biggest surprise for Luis was Calla; he had never met anyone quite like her, but he would often see similarities between the young lady and April back when she was in her late teens.

Luis thought back to those early days when he had the biggest crush on his plant biology instructor, and he was merely one of her trainees. He would constantly ask her very basic questions in class just to get her to look at him, which often annoyed her as she considered him to be nothing more than a dumb pilot. Luis knew her assessment was unfair but he was sure he would win her over.

He remembered the time when she finally agreed to have dinner and drinks with him and so he had gone shopping to buy April a gift that would warm her heart. '

'Shops; did the Earth even have shops anymore?' he thought to himself.

As Luis searched for the perfect item, one of his classmates called him over and said he had found just the right thing. When Luis turned to acknowledge see what it was, he saw some of his friends holding up a T-shirt with a picture of the comic book hero The Incredible Hulk. On the bottom were the words "Don't make me angry; You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." He could not deny the T-shirt summed up April perfectly, but he also knew she would not get the joke.

In the end Luis purchased a small metal pin of a brightly coloured flower to give April. It did not contain any precious stones and was instead encrusted with colourful ground glass, but it reminded Luis of the girl he desired because of her love for botany. When he had given it to her, after what he thought was the perfect dinner date, April had looked at it with the same level of mild surprise the average person would reserve for seeing a tree that looked just like a big piece of broccoli.

'Hmm... will you look at that" she had stated, unaware the Stormy Petrel of Mild Surprise was pecking at the leftovers on her plate.

She put it back in its small cloth wrap and placed it into the pocket of her jacket and to this day, Luis had never seen her wear this small token of his affection.

"Mars Base One calling MTV" the comms system came to life unexpectedly.

"Finally... about time too" Luis mumbled as he slipped on his headset "MTV receiving Mars Base."

"Marshal Barron here Luis; sorry we took so long to get back to you but you would not believe the meetings and discussions that have been going on since discovering what really happened to you."

"I should have been a part of those conversations you know" Luis declared.

"You're probably right but it was hard enough organising things down with no time delays, but what's done is done."

"So when can I talk to April?" Luis asked.

"Soon Luis; very soon" Barron replied "But first I have some very important things to tell you... and I'm afraid you are not going to like it."

"Don't beat around the bush Marshal" Luis huffed.

"Alright then... here goes; after we took a vote, it was decided by a slim majority that you should not be permitted to return to Mars."

Even across the void of interplanetary space, the silence that followed was truly deafening.

* * *

 **School holidays started today and go for the next two weeks, so should get a heap of writing done (does writing come in heaps or piles?)**


	66. Chapter 66

**Hi everyone :)**

 **Looks like I'm back on track with weekly posts so I just hope I can keep it up. I'll be interested to see who notices the 1970's Disney reference in this chapter.**

* * *

Route 66

Arsenic and Old Space Suits.

Luis Dias was glad his children were not there to hear him swear when he heard the bad news, but later he find the right words to use when explaining the situation to his three teenage crewmates. Fifteen minutes after Luis had received the disturbing report, they all sat with him in the habitat ring and learned their fate.

"Why can't we go back to Mars?" Abigail asked in a very worried voice.

"It's because Blue and Calla have come from Earth and we have been in close contact with them. The Mars Council want us to undertake a quarantine period, just to be sure none of us are carrying any pathogens or viruses."

"Hey... I'm clean!" Calla protested.

"I have no doubt you are" Luis smiled "but since everyone on Mars has been living in a very sterile environment for many years now, some members of the Mars Council thought it would be better to be safe than sorry."

"So how long do we have to wait in quarantine?" Abigail wondered.

"They haven't decided yet" Luis sighed.

"Do we have enough supplies to live on?" Calla realised.

"Doctor Spencer sent us enough for six months before we left Earth, plus we already have a few months worth on board anyway" Abigail noted.

"Hooray for Sarah" Calla smiled.

"We shouldn't have any problem" Luis added "By the time we get to the Orbit Station, the council promised there would be a supply ship waiting for us."

"A supply ship... from Mars?" Calla noted with suspicion.

"Yes of course" Luis wondered why Calla was looking at him so strangely.

"A capsule full of supplies from the home of the Deep Council, who's former agent tried to kill you both. I certainly would not want to come into contact with anything they send us. Just think about it for a minute; the people who sent the supply ship wouldn't know about the gear sent by Sarah Spencer and the crew. So if the quarantine is any longer than ten weeks, then they will assume we would have to access their food supplies; I don't trust them to be safe."

"Dad... do you think they'd try again to kill us?" Abigail began to worry.

"I seriously doubt the Deep Council would even attempt anything so foolish" Luis responded "Commander Sage acted on his own last time, so I don't think anyone on Mars would want to risk having more unwanted accusations levelled against them."

"But they wouldn't have to kill us" Calla continued "It sounds to me like it's not just the Deep Council, but there are a lot of people on Mars who are worried about being overrun by refugees from Earth. If we were to come down with a nasty flu or some other disease while waiting in the Orbit Station, then anyone who wants to argue about keeping Earth people away from Mars would have a very convincing case indeed."

There was a moment of silence while the other considered the probability of Calla's suspicion. Major Dias was particularly impressed with the young girl's deductions.

"How old did you say you were?" he asked.

"Don't let her appearance fool you Dad; she's very smart for her age" Blue said "I think she's fourteen going on thirty."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult" Calla sniffed.

"I think it's both" Abigail stated.

"It's a compliment" Blue protested.

* * *

Back on Mars, Saffron Dias felt like she had been living on a rollercoaster of emotion for the last few weeks. First there was the reported death of her father and older sister, followed by the discovery they were still alive, and then the revelation that she had a brother. Now to top it all off, the entire Mars base was awash with rumours about the Deep Council; who were they, how many and what were they really up to? With all the current upheaval, it did not look like she and April would be going back to Base 2 any time soon, so Saffron was finally being forced to join Holly Duncan's training class.

"The girls are okay" Holly explained as they walked down the corridor "Rain is fourteen and Zavia is sixteen and we get along great, but the boys are a bit of a handful. Cort is twelve but even though he's two years older than Sudhi, he's real immature and Talon is even worse. Just because he's the oldest at eighteen, he just assumes he's the boss. If an Instructor puts him in charge of a project, Talon just tells everyone what to do without listening to anyone else's ideas. But if someone else is made leader, Talon constantly pushes his nose in and tells them what they are doing wrong and how he would do it better."

"Sounds like Commander Sage" Saffron smirked.

"Whatever you do, don't say anything like that in class" Holly warned "Talon really looked up to Sage and was really pissed when he was blamed for the apparent death of your family."

"But Sage admitted he..." Saffron started.

"I know" Holly whispered as she reached for the door "but don't talk about it unless you're looking for a fight."

Saffron remembered how nervous Holly had been when she had to changing classes; now Saffron was beginning to understand exactly how Holly had felt. It was not as if these were bad people, but it's just never easy to go through major change.

"Hey everyone" Holly called out "You all know Saffy, right?"

Although they were all familiar with Saffron, she had never worked with them before and really felt like an outsider.

"Come in and join the team" instructor Dexter Riley invited her.

"Thanks" Saffron said nervously as she sat between Holly and Talon.

"We were pleased to hear the good news about Abigail and your father" Doctor Riley continued.

"Err yeah... so was I" Saffron stated the obvious and then wished she hadn't.

The day started slow with some basic introductions followed by mathematics and coding before Doctor Riley told the small group to take an extra half hour for lunch so they could get to know each other. He told them to meet him in the robotics lab when they were done so they could put their coding efforts to the test in the afternoon, and then he left them to enjoy their break. Lunch conversation was very light at first, but it soon took a dark turn.

"Well then" Talon began as he finished off his meal "Your mother appears to have turned into quite the trouble maker."

"Excuse me?" Saffron answered as the Toucan of Defiance alighted on her shoulder.

"Nobody knows who to trust anymore, thanks to her" he continued.

"Oh come on Talon" Zavia sighed "Don't be a jerk all your life."

"Well it's true" he argued.

"Perhaps you would have preferred it if we were still having all our private conversations recorded" Saffron sniffed.

"Who said we were being recorded?" Talon pointed out.

Holly and Saffron looked at each other, wondering if the young man was serious.

"Do you think the Deep Council just listened in occasionally for entertainment?" Saffron huffed.

"I don't assume anything without proof, unlike you two" Talon declared smugly.

"So what so called proof do you have that my mother is a trouble maker?"

"My own observations for a start; it was weird the way she kept the truth about Major Dias and Abigail secret until she could put her plan into action."

"You pathetic piece of crap" Saffron hissed "Do you have any idea what it was like for us, thinking Dad and Abby were dead for over a week? We went through hell!"

"Well I can understand your Mom would have been upset about losing Abigail, but she doesn't seem to care about men very much."

"Now you've gone too far Talon" Zavia said sternly.

"I've seen the way she treats Major Dias; ordering him around, expecting him to oblige her every whim."

"Mom and Dad love each other very much" Saffron started to cry "It's just the way they play around with each other."

"You're just lucky you were born a girl" Talon insisted "After all, she did abandon your baby brother back on Earth."

"SAFFY, NO!" Holly cried out too late.

* * *

"HOW COULD YOU JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE? YOU'RE AN IDIOT RILEY!" Gretel Descott declared loudly.

"Calm down Gretel; there was no real harm done" Dexter Riley tried to play peacemaker.

"NO REAL HARM? That little delinquent could have broken his nose!"

"If I'd been there when he opened his big mouth, I would have broken more than just his nose" April admitted.

"Violence is always the last resort of the limited mind" Gretel said accusingly.

"You heard for yourself what your son said to my daughter" April spat back.

"Are you saying Talon is not permitted to have an opinion?"

"He can have all the weird opinions he wants; but if he throws them in my face, I'll deck him without hesitation" April was adamant.

"Beating children; you should be ashamed of yourself" Gretel turned up her nose as she wagged her finger at April.

"He's no child; he's eighteen and almost as big a Luis" April sat heavily in the nearest chair "And what kind of stupid name is Talon anyway? It sounds like you expected him to be rude and overbearing when he grew up, so I suppose his behaviour is entirely your fault."

"Why you..."

Gretel's hand swung around at April's face with full force, but just as Doctor Riley jumped up in panic, April moved with lightning reflexes though and caught the offender by the wrist.

"Limited mind eh?" April stood, pushed the hand away before strolling out of the room.

As she stormed past the children in the waiting room, Saffron jumped up and followed after her mother. April glared at Talon, but he just turned away as he held a cloth to his bleeding nose.

"Err... am I going to be punished?" Saffron asked as she tried to keep up.

"You bet your ass you're gonna be punished; tonight you can stay up late and you get a double helping of dessert!"

* * *

At the entrance to the bunker near the Arizona border a small crowd of people awaited the weekly change over. After standing in the sun for over forty five minutes, the first members of the departing group marched out of the tunnel and into the light, carrying their personal belongings.

Four bright yellow electric freight vehicles followed behind them carrying all the equipment that had been repaired or fabricated during the first group's time underground. Those waiting to enter the bunker had already unloaded the trucks of the gear they were taking inside, so everyone helped re-load the outgoing trucks. Eventually with the first group headed off to El Centro, Reed, Shifty and two others loaded all the worn and broken parts onto the electric carts while the rest of Group Two began the long walk down the tunnel.

"Why wouldn't they let us unload inside?" Reed asked.

"The trucks are never allowed in the tunnel during changeover" Shifty explained "They say it's because of the exhaust fumes, but I think they're just paranoid about having so many people here at once. You may not have noticed, but there are extra guards up in the rocks so if we try anything, they'll have a clear shot."

"I see; there were only two of us when we came last time and we were greatly outnumbered" Reed realised.

"So they felt much safer" Shifty nodded "but with so many people milling about, they tend to get a little paranoid."

With two of the electric vehicles loaded, Shifty made a desirable offer to his friends.

"Hey Alby, you and Bobby can take off if you want; Reed and I will take care of the rest."

"Thanks Shifty" Alby replied as he stepped onto the operators platform.

As soon as they were gone, leaving only the guards keeping watch, Shifty talked low as he worked.

"I'm not too sure about this plan of yours. Why don't I let a few of my friends in on it? If I don't, you're gonna be very unpopular with the rest of the townsfolk."

"It'll make the whole thing more believable if they grow to hate me" Reed insisted "You can set everyone straight next week when you're back home."

"Okay... if you're sure."

A few minutes later, they finished loading their gear and set off down the dimly lit tunnel and into the bunker, ready to put Reed's strange plan into action.

* * *

 **Spring is here and I'm surprised how much it helps my writing. In the winter I tend to stay inside and play computer games a lot which stifles creativity, but in the warmer weather I get out in the garden and think more about plots and dialogue.**

 **Starting to wonder if I can finish this one off before the new year.**


	67. Chapter 67

**This week's film and TV reference is so obvious, there will be no great accolades for spotting it. I wonder how long I can keep this up?**

* * *

Chapter 67

In Ten Million Kilometres, Turn Left

With the Mars Transfer Vehicle getting closer to its destination, the communication lag time was considerably lower, making conversation with Mars much easier; also the Mars Citizens Council had finally agreed to let April and Saffron talk to the MTV crew. It had originally been decided that there would be no direct contact by anyone outside the Council Leadership until the investigation into what was now being called The Sage Incident was complete. But it had already taken far longer than expected and did not look like ending anytime soon. There was also the amount of support April was gaining in the general community because she still had not had the opportunity to talk directly to her son.

In the end April found it quite difficult to find the right words when she finally sat down in front of the comms screen.

"Hi Mom" was the obvious thing for Blue to begin with.

April did not reply straight away, but instead she tried unsuccessfully to hold back the tears when she saw him sitting in between Luis and Abigail.

"Say hello to your son Dearest" Luis prompted.

"Oh don't spoil the moment" April snapped "Hello Henry... it's... it's so good to talk to you at last."

The conversation progressed slowly and it was obviously very awkward for everyone. It wasn't Calla moving around behind the Dias family and causing a distraction that was the problem, but more the disturbing knowledge that their conversation was far from private. Not only were there three other people in the room with April and Saffron, but everyone knew it was all being recorded for later scrutiny, and April was certain her words would surely be misinterpreted and used against her by unscrupulous people with their own agenda.

April eventually found her voice and so began a lively conversation about Blues life inside the Railgun Complex and all the changes trust upon him by a young girl falling out of an air vent. Although there would be much more to talk about in the future, April was just glad to find out about the basics of her son's life.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you all in person when the quarantine time is up" Saffron noted later in the conversation.

Luis had been waiting for that particular subject to be brought up because he wanted to gain some information without being too obvious.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you too" he admitted "Have the Mars Council set a time for the quarantine period yet?"

Before April could respond, one of the council members pressed a button on his console and appeared in half of the MTV comms screen.

"After consultation with the medical staff, we believe a period of fifteen weeks would be advantageous" he noted.

"Fifteen weeks?" Abigail gasped "That's almost four months."

"We're very sorry but the base safety must be our main priority" the councillor insisted.

"I'm gonna get bored out of my brain sitting around on the Orbit Station for fifteen weeks" Abigail sighed.

"So tell me about Earth Henry" April changed the subject "I'm still finding it hard to believe everyone from the ship you were born on is still alive; what are they all up too?"

"Well I suppose the biggest news is Professor Adisa has retired and sailed off to America with Henry Deming; Doctor Spencer is in charge now."

"How is Sarah?" April smiled.

"She's good Mom; and she's doing a great job with the Railgun rebuild."

"Railgun rebuild?" the Council member interrupted again "What is she planning?"

"Don't panic; she's not gonna swamp Mars with thousands of people" Blue shook his head in disgust "When we found out we'd been lied to for so long, Sarah came up with a new plan. We're going to the Asteroid Belt to build new colonies. If you hadn't sent Sage on his little spy mission, we would have built a new colony without disturbing Mars at all; we could have been neighbours."

"Sage wasn't spying on you" the Councillor declared.

"That is a load of..." Luis began before realising who he was sitting next to "...rubbish; pure garbage. I was told it was a survey of the conditions on Earth but when we stumbled across the Tanker in Sumatra, Sage was suspiciously ready to go. Safety systems had already been bypassed, warning alarms disabled, and all he had to do was press a button and jettison the Orion capsule."

"He did that on his own" the Councillor objected "No one knew he was intending to take such drastic action."

"Roux and Klein didn't know" Luis pointed out "but how do you know some other member of the Deep Council didn't give him a sly word on the side?"

"I... I'm sure that wasn't..."

"You can't be sure unless you are a member of the Deep Council" Luis accused.

"NOW STOP THAT!" the Councillor snapped "We've had far too much paranoia and accusation here already."

"And most of it seems to be directed at my wife" Luis scowled.

"Well she did cause a lot of upset here" the man insisted.

"She just tried to bring the truth to where it had been covered up for so long" Luis shut down all argument.

"We all realise that is true Luis, but it has still made us very nervous. No one on the Citizens Council is sure how it all happened in the first place; we don't know how many people were behind it all, and what their ultimate plan was. Seriously; what would have happened if we had never found out?"

Luis was still mightily peeved, but he could understand why there such turmoil on Mars with no one being sure who to trust and who to suspect.

"Is there any chance at all you could please stop arguing with my husband and let me talk to my family again?" April huffed.

Everyone managed to put aside their differences for the time being to allow this family, separated by time and distance to finally make an attempt at becoming whole for the first time. While everyone had the opportunity to say a few more words, April and Blue definitely ruled the conversation. Almost two and a half hour had passed before the communication line was finally closed and the MTV crew were once again left alone to drift along through interplanetary space.

"Time to alter our destination" Luis revealed as he accessed the navigational computer.

Calla and Blue looked to Abigail for answers but she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Thanks to Calla's earlier observations, I did some calculations and came this conclusion" Luis continued "We would have about eight to ten weeks of food with rationing if it were not for the supplies sent from Earth; supplies Mars does not know we have. Considering two to four weeks of quarantine time is more than enough, then fifteen weeks means someone wanted to be sure we would access the Supply Pod sent from Mars."

"So why are we altering course?" Blue asked.

"I want to make sure we have an innocent excuse for not going to the Orbit Station" Luis explained "so we may as well go straight to Sarah's little asteroid and start work. Not only will it be safer, but it will give us something to do during the quarantine period."

"Hmmm... neat idea" Abigail nodded.

"I'd love to see the look on Moms face when she finds out where I'm going now" Calla grinned.

* * *

While circumstances were far from perfect for the crew of the MTV, deep space was not the only place suffering from conflict and discord. Deep underground near the Arizona border, a certain ship's captain was slowly becoming more and more despised by the people around him.

"Considering how long you've been doing this, I thought someone would have worked out a viable priority system by now" Reed Branson barked.

"We work with this equipment all the time" a very annoyed machinist replied "We all know which parts are the most important and which ones are less so."

"But there's no coordination of effort and everyone appears to have a slightly different idea as to what piece of farm machinery has the highest level of importance" Reed argued "If you'd only concentrate more effort on the machines that will be of the greatest use overall, then you would get them as close to perfect as possible before moving on to the next priority. Then you would have far fewer major breakdowns during important sowing and harvest times."

"But then we'd all be reliant on fewer machines to cover the whole area and moving them around from farm to farm takes more fuel than we have in reserve" one of the farmers pointed out.

The argument continued for a few more minutes until everyone realised no work was being done; efficiently or not. As the locals returned to their work in the machine shop, Shifty casually walked up and started putting boxes on a handcart, trying his best to look innocent.

"Well if you wanted to alienate everyone, you've certainly wasted no time getting it done" he said quietly.

"Good" Reed smiled to himself "Did the guards take any notice of what was going on?"

"Of course they did; any fights or arguments among us outsiders is pure entertainment to them" Shifty noted "These two will probably tell all the others about it when their shift is over."

"I hope they do" Reed nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want me to let the others in on your little plan? If it doesn't work, you could end up being the most hated man in the entire community."

"Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs" Reed succumb to the influence of the Budgerigar of Overused Metaphors.

"Maybe so but that doesn't mean you have to throw them in people's faces."

* * *

"What do you think your mother will do when she finds out we're going passed Mars to the Asteroid Belt?" Blue asked as he and Calla reviewed a topographical map of 16 Psyche.

"Let me put it this way; I'm glad I'm well beyond her reach" Calla grinned "But seriously, I don't think it will add much to her current stress levels. I know I told her I was not going to land on Mars but I'm sure she knew I'd be the first one inside the Landing Capsule if the opportunity arose. We have this thing where I promise not to do anything too risky, and she pretends to believe me. When you think about it though, travelling a little further into space doesn't sound anywhere near as dangerous as landing on another planet, even if it has been done many times before."

"You weren't planning on ever going back to Earth were you?"

Calla lowered her eyes and smiled at Blues accusation.

"Well I wouldn't say never, I'm just not in any hurry."

"These are the voyages of Space Cadet Calla" Blue smirked "Her ultimate mission: to flitter around the solar system with the express purpose of avoiding her mother.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Calla wrinkled her nose.

"Never mind" Blue tried to stop grinning "I get the feeling your Mom has never really become accustomed to your adventurous ways."

"You should have heard the screaming match we had when I told her I wanted to stay on the Star Runner with Dad and not go with her on one of the bigger ships with her."

"Yeah I've wondered why your Mom wasn't with you when you arrived at the Railgun" Blue noted.

"Yachts that size are a funny thing" Calla began.

"I've never found them amusing in the slightest."

"Do you want to hear this story or not?" Calla said sternly.

"I'll be good" Blue promised.

"You can have a crew of six on board but the perfect number is three; one on the tiller while the other two take care of the rigging. When we joined up with the fleet, Mom said she and I should go on one of the larger vessels, while a more experienced sailor crewed with Dad and Emerson."

"But you weren't about to put up with talk like that, were you?"

"Not on your life" Calla agreed "Long story short, Mom lost out again."

"I'm beginning to feel quite sorry for your poor mother" Blue noted.

* * *

Reed Branson sat by himself at the end of the day, ignoring everyone else in the dining room, while they gladly ignored him too. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see several guards chatting as they ate and was pleased to notice when one of them pointed Reed out to his friends. Nothing happened for another fifteen minutes but when a few of the guards had finished their meal, they stood up and wandered over.

"I hear you've been making yourself quite unpopular amongst our little rural group" the senior guard smiled in a very creepy way.

"It wasn't my intention" Reed replied "I was only trying to help the id... people."

"Fancy yourself as the boss man eh?"

"Hardly; it's just that I used to be a Ship's Captain and prior to that, I was a sailor so I know the advantages of having a leader and a chain of command to keep everything running smoothly. Any one of them would make a good leader but they're all afraid of stepping on each other's toes; so instead of getting coordinated, they all continue to do their own thing while saying what jolly chums we all are."

"Sounds like you prefer a more structured lifestyle" the Head Guard noted.

"Yeah and if I can't find it around here, I may have to go back to my ship and look elsewhere."

"Perhaps... but what you're looking for might be closer than you think" the guard nodded knowingly.

Reed had hoped to hear more of what this man had to say, but it seemed now was not the time because the entire group of guards turned and left without another word. When they were out of sight, Reed turned to look at the outsiders eating nearby. As soon as they saw him looking at them, they all pretended they had not been watching what had just been going on; they were all very unconvincing.

* * *

 **Been doing so much story checking and rewriting over the last month, I went from ten chapters ahead down to three. But I finally got back to the new stuff last week and have it back to five chapters in the bag. I still can't see the end of the story, but I can see the glow of its tail lights.**


	68. Chapter 68

**I've got a bit of a problem (although I dare say you all may disagree with me). Still a long way from the end of this story and I've already got ideas for four new stories. I need to write more and play computer games less. The only thing I can guarantee for sure is that the next two stories will have a lot more dragon in them.**

* * *

Chapter 68

Where Do We Go From Here?

April Dias tried to get some work done, but it was very hard for her to concentrate; she was sick and tired of being kept at Base One when she really wanted to return to her real work; setting up the biological systems at Base Two.

Her youngest daughter Saffron had finally settled in with her new classmates, most of who thought she was a really cool now she had a self centred guy almost twice her age cry with only one punch. April pushed her keyboard away and leant back in her chair with her hands behind her head. Giving out a loud sigh, she wished something would happen to change the monotonous rut her life had fallen into.

A knock on the door was not really what she wanted, but under the circumstances it was better than nothing.

"April, my dear lady" Professor Leonard Topolski grinned like a Cheshire Martian.

"It's so good to see you Leonard" April smiled "Come on in and tell me what brings you all the way here from Base Two."

"I would say Surface Rover brings me here, but that is too old joke" he said in his broad clichéd accent.

"Been here long?" April started off with some small talk.

"I arrived two days ago but before I came to see you, I wanted to talk first with Klein along with a few others."

April could hear a slight nervousness in Topolski's voice and she had a very strong feeling she knew precisely why it was there.

"Leonard... you're a member of the Deep Council aren't you" she accused.

"Guilty as charged" he admitted "but before you hit me in head with locomotive, please listen to what I have to say."

"I don't want to hit anyone Leonard... well... a few maybe, but I'm just so fed up with the whole thing. It almost feels like half the base personnel conspired to stop the other half from finding out the truth."

"Hardly half the base" Professor Topolski explained "Closer to one per-cent... maybe two."

"Then why does it look like so many people are taking the side of the conspirators?" April argued.

"Don't be so naive April. Without warning you revealed to the entire population of Mars, all of their private conversations have been listened to in secret. Some people cannot remember all the things they may have said and so they are very nervous about what may come out. The rest can remember what they have said, and they are absolutely terrified."

"I never thought about it quite like that" April pondered.

"You must not feel guilty my dear" the Professor grabbed her shoulders "It is natural for the receivers of very bad news to be upset with messenger, but I know you did the right thing. Florian, myself and a few others tried to warn Deep Council many times about what would happen if we were discovered, but most of them enjoyed the power they wielded far too much and so they would stick fingers in ears and sing Birdhouse in your Soul... figuratively speaking, so they could ignore our concerns."

"So where do we go from here?" April asked with genuine concern.

"There could be way to restart governance of entire Mars project, but everyone has to agree and that is the hardest thing of all to achieve" Topolski noted "There are those who will demand punishment for what they see as obvious crimes of Deep Council, but most members are not prepared to stand and be judged."

"Do they really expect a choice in the matter?" April asked accusingly.

"I know you don't agree, but Klein was right not to reveal who Deep Council members are. Bear is dangerous animal at the best of times; but when cornered..."

"I think I see your point" April admitted.

"We have to find balance everyone can live with and as you are the one who has lost the most because of what Council has done, I want you to be the one who is the new voice of reason. I want you to stand up in front of entire population again, and present the case for Deep Council to be given mercy."

"YOU WANT THEM ALL TO GET OFF SCOT- FREE?" April gasped.

"Of course not" Topolski tried to calm April down "but they don't wish to go through any form of trial."

"Do you really expect me to care about anything they may want?"

"Instead they propose you lead an enquiry into the whole matter. The people of Mars trust you April and oddly enough, so do the members of the Deep Council. They believe that if you look into the whole situation openly and on behalf of the entire population, then justice will be seen to be served and we can all move on."

"I can't believe what you are telling me Leonard" April began to pace back and forth "Just who do these people think they are, expecting me to come to their defence when I'm the one who wants to bring them down?"

April looked at Professor Topolski like he was a cat being scolded for stealing the hot dog from the bun.

"Alright I get what you're saying Leonard, but not all of them could be like you and Florian" April said accusingly "And no matter what, all of you have to take some responsibility for the way this whole situation has unfolded."

"That's the point April; many of us had nothing to do with how Mars was set up. But we are painfully aware of how we allowed this horrible situation to develop. We know instead of keeping quiet, we should have been standing up and bringing it all to a stop many years ago. We never had the luxury of finding out how bad everything was all at one time. Most of us were brought in at the edges and told very little at first. As time went on, we made some policy decisions that seemed a little off, but not criminal by any means. Before we knew it, years had passed and we had allowed ourselves to become so closely tied to the whole deception, that there seemed to be no way out. Florian was definitely the one most vocal about brining change to the way things worked inside the Deep Council; over five years ago he wanted us to shut it all down, stop covertly controlling the Citizens Council and destroy all surveillance information."

"And why didn't you?" April huffed.

"There were threats" Topolski admitted "Those who had done the least criminal acts were told if truth were revealed, they would be punished just as much as those who had done the worst of it. That was when the Deep Council actually began to rule itself with fear and from that point, there was no going back."

"So figuratively speaking, you and your friends decided to ask me to try and make you look slightly less guilty to the people of Mars by separating those who destroyed our democracy, from you who handed them the grenades they used to do it" April accused.

"Surprisingly... no; it is not the people like Florian and me who wish you to do this enquiry, but those who carry the most guilt."

Topolski was right; April was surprised and became even more so as he continued.

"There is hope that the citizens of Mars will take this into consideration; Mars governance, as it had been before you exposed it, was almost entirely set up from Earth before the first construction crew arrived; and mostly by people who never even came to Mars. That group was lead by Prime Governor Redding and the only ones from the initial group to settle here on Mars were Neville Sage and Olive Roux; and they were not even on the Deep Council."

"I have no hope of getting any information from Earth about what you're telling me, so what do they expect me to do?" April could not believe she was considering the odd request.

"If you agree to do as asked, two others will join you on enquiry panel. Any who wish can put their names forward and you can make short list of people you trust. Finally there will be open vote to choose who from your list will join you. Hearings will be open for all to witness, but each Deep Council member will only be identified by code number."

"They can't expect to remain hidden forever" April barked "I wouldn't stand for it and neither will the people of Mars."

"It will just be for giving of statements" Topolski explained "Each person wants to be judged only on their testimony and accounts of other witnesses; not on who they are."

"What you are asking for is ridiculous Leonard" April argued "What difference does it make if we find out who each one is before the enquiry, or after it is over?"

"Difference is this April; you are bound to look differently on same confession, depending on if you like or don't like person giving it. Imagine if person confessing was Florian Klein... or Olive Roux; even I do not believe you would treat them the same. Each Deep Council member must be judged on their actions and reasons alone."

"Not on who they are" April repeated.

"It really comes down to what is more important to everyone; keeping base going strong, or getting satisfaction of revenge and letting whole thing fall apart."

"You can't say for sure everything will fall apart Leonard" April stated.

"But I believe risk is very, very high" Topolski insisted.

* * *

It wasn't the most comfortable bed he had ever slept on, but after yet another full day of work, Reed Branson was just happy to lie down and close his eyes. All the unimportant things, like taking off his boots, could wait until later for all he cared. It no longer even bothered him that the bed was just one of many in a large dormitory like room.

"Only one more day to go" Shifty noted as he approached.

"I really hoped something would have happened by now" Reed sighed without opening his eyes.

"I guess you'll just have to spend another month with us being ignored by everyone."

Shifty's observation seemed right on the money. Reed had spent most of the week making himself very unpopular by trying to organise a large group of people into a regimented workforce, who did not want him to organise them into a regimented workforce. His plan to become one of the guards seemed like a good way to infiltrate the bunker and find his friends, but he was not yet getting the desired results. Fortunately for Reed, he could see a new opportunity approaching from the main door.

"Someone's coming; time to ad lib again" Reed noted quietly.

"Can't you understand that this is the way we like to do things" Shifty said clearly for the benefit of those walking up behind him, who he pretended not to notice.

'Oh I understand it just fine" Reed went along with the deception "but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"But if only..."

"Take a walk Shifty" a deep voice boomed.

The young man sprang to his feet and spun round to see the guard who had given him the fuel and bullets in exchange for Linton Adisa and Henry Dias.

"Ah... hello sir" he stuttered "Right away sir."

As Shifty made a quick exit, Reed pulled himself up off the bed and stood half at attention.

"No please... sit down" the man smiled "I only want to chat."

One of the two guards standing behind the man grabbed a nearby chair and placed near the bed for their leader to sit on.

"My name is Joshua Cook" he introduced himself "People call me the Colonel but it's just an honorary title. If I understand correctly though, you are a genuine Captain. Was it Army... or Air Force perhaps?"

"Sorry to cause confusion sir but I was only the Captain of a sailing ship" Reed admitted "I was never in the military."

"Fair enough" Cook turned to glare at the man on his left, who turned away looking embarrassed.

"Still... I assume that means before you became the Captain, you were once a humble sailor?"

"For quite a while sir" Reed nodded.

"Yes; I've been told you have not been particularly impressed with the way our friends from the outside run their little community" Cook continued.

"Oh I've got nothing against them, they seem like good people. But because they lack a real command structure, there are too many inefficiencies holding them back. I know it really isn't any of my business, but I do find it all very annoying."

The Colonel considered what he'd heard for a few seconds and then got to his feet. At first Reed silently cursed himself for not holding Cook's interest for very long, but then the no nonsense leader threw him a bone."

"If you're interested, there may be a different job that would suit you better. Was there any one else on your ship who would think the same way?"

"Most of my crew are just like these farmers; survivors looking for a better life. There was one man though, who was once in the US Navy; Jack Sumner is his name and he helped me run the ship with genuine efficiency."

"Jack Sumner" Cook repeated "I'll keep an eye out for him."

Shifty waited till all three men were out of sight before slipping back towards Branson.

"How'd it go?" he asked eagerly.

"I think I was expecting too much" Reed replied "The Colonel hinted about something in the future, but he didn't really say what or when."

"Maybe next month" Shifty said cheerfully.

"Yeah that's okay for you and me, but will it be too late for Henry and the Professor?"

* * *

But at that very moment, Professor Adisa sat with a very smug look on his face. Redding always liked to be one or two steps ahead of everyone around him, but all that changed when Linton and Henry had become permanent residents in the massive bunker.

"What did you just say?" Redding suddenly realised he had just missed something very important.

"I said checkmate in three moves" Linton repeated.

Redding looked down at the chessboard and contemplated whether or not it was worth the effort of going on. In the end he decided it was not, so he reached out and tipped his king onto its side.

"Things might go better for you if you let me win once in a while" Redding sniffed.

"Is that what all you're other so called friends do for?" Linton smirked as he reset the board.

"They do if they know what's good for them" Redding mumbled as he walked over to the window.

"You would soon find me just as boring if I caved in" Linton noted "Another game?"

"You've got to be kidding me" Redding shook his head.

"We could always have a game of Go" the Professor offered.

"Why would I want to play that pathetic Japanese version of tic-tac-toe?"

One of the greatest strategy games ever devised and Redding calls it pathetic. Professor Adisa could not help but smile and sigh at the same time because now he would have to find a completely new way to annoy his host. Not a very nice thing to do, but these days it was the only source of fun he had available to him while he bided his time in this strange but pleasant prison.

* * *

 **I see the stores have Christmas decorations for sale already and we haven't even had Halloween yet. I'd better take time to make up a batch of Yak Nog or two because it needs plenty of time to ferment.**


	69. Chapter 69

**Whoa what a busy week I just had. Only got a few paragraphs done but tomorrow is Sunday so its laundry, kitchen clean up and 'write my butt off' day.**

* * *

Chapter 69

Not Much to Go On

On the 17th of March in the year 1852, an Italian astronomer named Annibale de Gasparis decided to take a look at the night sky above Naples through his telescope. He was pleased to discover great big lump of iron over two hundred kilometres in diameter, orbiting in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. This was the fifth time since April 1849 he had made such a discovery and he decided to name this one after the Greek mythological figure Psyche. Gasparis was a very accomplished astronomer and had won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1851, and had even won the Lalande Prize two years in succession.

Even though he was very knowledgeable, Gasparis had no way of knowing that over two hundred years later, the young descendant of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, sometimes known as the Dragon Master, would arrive at this minor planet with his father, his sister and a young girl who tried to act mature, but would still giggle to herself every time someone mentioned the planet Uranus.

This young girl now watched in awe as a number of cylindrical cargo pods, each big enough to fit a large bus inside with room to spare, detached themselves one by one from the interplanetary ship and began to move slowly away. Each one opened up to reveal the various robotic machines inside. Six refrigerator sized satellites were among the first to emerge; they automatically manoeuvred themselves into position before moving off into space.

"Where are they going?" Calla asked.

"Each one will go about three thousand kilometres away and begin to map the area" Luis Dias informed her. "They will send signals to guide all the Collector Units to smaller asteroids."

"Why do you want smaller asteroids when you've got a great big one sitting just over there?" Calla pointed to 16 Psyche.

"That great big asteroid is made almost entirely of iron-nickel" Luis explained "Very useful to be sure, but the others we collect will provide us with silicates, other metals, gasses and even water."

"Sounds legit" Calla shrugged as several of the Collector Units emerged from the same pod.

Luis floated down from the observation cupola, leaving Calla to enjoy the view all by herself, but every now and then she would see one or two members of the Dias family passing by beneath her as they co-ordinated the robotic ballet going on outside the ship. The machines that held her interest the longest were the ones working at the top of the asteroid. At the exact centre of what would be 16 Psyche's North Pole, a large lander had drilled into the asteroid and anchored itself into position before several others units began to assemble four arms. At the ends of these arms, curved track pieces were then put in place until a ring twenty meters across, surrounded the central lander. The ring was a circular track only a meter above the surface of the asteroid, to which four milling machines were attached.

As Calla watched through a set of binoculars, red tracking lasers flashed across the surface as the machines began to work their way around the ring and grind away at the asteroid while collecting the ground metallic swarf dust in side containers. She really wanted to see how the whole operation would progress but without the ability to hit fast forward, the procedure was becoming far too tedious for her. Instead she floated off to the centre of the MTV and began to climb down to the simulated gravity ring. To her surprise she found Blue there, looking at images on a computer screen.

"I thought you were helping your Dad" Calla noted.

"Huh?" Blue looked up, his concentration broken. "Oh... yeah but everything is pretty much on automatic now, so we'll just take shifts keeping an eye on things till it's time for the next stage."

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Calla asked as she peered over Blues shoulder.

Calla expected to see something related to the asteroid or possibly Blue's family, but instead she was surprised to see him looking intently at pictures of dragons. There were no real dragons of course but there were plenty of artworks, pictures of stone carvings and even a rendition on the side of a space capsule.

"Are you still obsessing about those things?" Calla crossed her arms and shook her head.

"I can't stop thinking about them" Blue admitted "And the more I think about what DeGroot told me, along with what I saw in the book of Gothi, the more I feel like I have to go back."

"Back?" Calla gasped "Back to Earth?"

"I really do feel like I have to" Blue explained.

"You didn't mention this when we were talking before" Calla snapped.

"Err..." Blue articulated.

"When I clearly told you I wanted to stay out here" she continued.

"Um..." Blue widened his vocabulary.

"What about your mother; don't you want to see her?"

"Of course I was gonna wait till I'd seen her first..." Blue grasped at his own thoughts.

"And then you were going to just leave and expect me to follow" Calla accused.

"I didn't expect..." he began but did not get very far.

"And you're gonna abandon your dad and your sisters; you don't think about anyone but yourself, you selfish JERK!"

Blue just sat there totally stunned as Calla stormed off to the other side of the ring section while mumbling to herself.

"I risk my life and fly into space to help that ungrateful swine save his family, and now I find out he's secretly planning to either drag me back to Earth or dump me out in deep space..."

As her voice faded in the distance, Blue noticed it sounded a little cracked and quite desperate.

"SORRY IF I'M IN YOUR WAY!" her final shout reverberated around the ship.

"In my way?" Blue was taken aback.

"Are you really leaving?"

"What the... how long have you been there?" Blue jumped in his chair at the sound of his sister's voice.

"Long enough" Abigail replied "I can't believe you want to go back."

"What wrong with everyone today?" Blue asked with genuine confusion.

"I can tell you now, Mom and Dad won't be happy to hear about this."

"If you were eavesdropping long enough, you would have heard me say I wasn't planning on returning to Earth before catching up with the rest of the family."

"Really?" Abigail crossed her arms, which was never a good sign "So it's gonna be quick hello to Mom and Saffy and then you'll be off."

"Don't be so melodramatic" Blue sighed "Calla and I were just talking and I happened to mention I'm planning on going back to Earth some day. Where's the harm in that?"

"You just changed everything without even considering how it would affect Calla... or the rest of us" Abigail pointed out.

"Affect you?" Blue protested "How about affecting me? I just spent fifteen years locked up underground and now I find out I'm a prisoner of my own family."

"Calla was right; you are a selfish jerk" Abigail snorted.

"You've got it all wrong; I never said I was going to leave straight away, but I know I'll have to return to Earth someday and when the time comes, Calla can choose for herself if she wants to stay out here or come back home."

"And what if she'd been planning to stay out here... with you?"

The Barn Owl of Slow Realisation often felt underutilised, so it was good to have a task to do at last. Unfortunately Blue immediately rejected what his sister was telling him in favour of something less confronting.

"Look Abigail, she may not be trying to kill me anymore, but it's still obvious to me by the way she acts that Calla wants me to give her a lot of personal space. If I go back to Earth, she can have two hundred million kilometres worth."

"You really are an idiot" Abigail noted; and she was not smiling when she said it.

* * *

If the first week of April's Enquiry into the Deep Council was any indication, it was going to be a long slow process. It had been decided that the two Mars citizens sitting with April on the panel, should represent both the people who came from Earth as adults, as well as those who were raised on Mars. Sierra Corbin may act a little frivolous sometimes but she had a very analytical mind, so April was glad to have her on the panel. The selection of the second member proved to be a much more difficult process. Everyone feared that because the Deep council was still so cloaked in secrecy, there was a possibility they would try to put one of their own members on the investigative panel. In the end Klein and Topolski agreed to break their silence only to confirm the man chosen was clean; and so Victor Kittredge became the final panellist.

Each Deep Councillor used a code number when they made contact with the investigators over the comms system allowing them to give testimony and be cross examined without yet being identified. It was all very messy and April was filled with doubt about how successful the whole process would turn out to be. She began the first day by setting some ground rules for the Mars citizens input into the proceedings, but it all fell apart before lunch. Every question answered only prompted dozens more questions both from the gallery of people and from those watching in their homes. Everyone on Mars knew they had the right to participate but two thousand people were far too much for three investigators to co-ordinate.

On the second day April took proceedings in a completely different direction. She put all questions aside and asked each Deep Council member to give a personal account of how they were recruited, what policies they were involved in implementing, and what testimony they could give about the other members. By the end of the week, she was ready to tear her own hair out.

"I knew this would happen" April growled at Marshal Baron "And I'll bet the Deep Council knew it too; and that's why they wanted this whole enquiry."

"I'm beginning to think I'm going to spend the rest of my life constantly repeating the words Calm Down April" Marshal sighed.

"She may be a tad tense" Sierra Corbin admitted "but you have to admit she had good reason."

"But everything is going so well" Marshal Baron disagreed "We're getting a lot of testimony which will lead to..."

"Don't be ridiculous Marshal" April snapped "There is absolutely nothing there of any use at all. Each and every member of the Deep Council has managed to find a different way of saying exactly the same thing. They didn't know what they were getting into and ended up being trapped with no way out. They were not responsible for the operations of the Council, but they don't believe it is up to them to point the finger at those who were responsible."

"Yeah that pretty much sums up everyones testimony" Victor Kittredge agreed.

"But each one took several hours to say it" Sierra added.

Deep in thought, April paced towards the far wall before turning back to Marshal Baron.

"I went along with this farce in the hope it would achieve something worthwhile, and do so before Luis and the kids completed their quarantine period" she insisted "But now it appears to be going nowhere and won't be done till I've had this baby, raised it and sent it off to college. I'm going home to write some new demands and guidelines; and if what I come up with dosen't upset every last member of the Deep Council, then I haven't gone far enough."

"April wait..." Marshal began but she was already half out the door.

By the time April reached the first turn in the corridor, it became very clear that she was being followed.

"WHAT?" she shouted bluntly as she spun on her heels.

To April's surprise, it was not Marshal Baron trying to get her to return, but Talon Descott who almost ran into her.

"Uh... sorry Mrs. Dias, I was just trying to keep up" he stated.

"No I'm sorry Talon I thought... never mind, how's the nose?"

"Still a bit sore but getting better; your daughter has quite a fist."

"Yes I'm sure Luis would say she takes after her mother; now why are you following me?"

"I've been assigned to protect you Mrs. Dias" Talon stated proudly "I've been made a cadet in the new Mars Security Force."

"Mars Security For..?" April's eyes almost fell out of her skull as she temporarily lost the power of cognitive speech.

"OH HELL NO!" her voice quickly returned and she stormed back the way she had come.

"Wait for me" Talon called before April suddenly stopped again and stared the young man down.

"STAY!" she stated bluntly.

"I... I'll wait here then" Talon agreed.

Sierra and Victor were mildly surprised to see April step back into the room, but not Marshal Baron for he knew exactly what was coming.

"It had to happen sooner or later and the Mars Citizens Council decided now was the right time."

"What had to happen?" Sierra asked.

"GO ON... TELL HER" April demanded as she shook her fist "THEN HOLD STILL SO I CAN DECK YOU!"

"It's not what you think April" Marshal protested.

"Apart from this whole Deep Council business, how many crimes have been committed on Mars lately?" April said accusingly.

"Apart from the Deep Council?" Marshal thought "Only the ones you and your friends are responsible for, but no charges will be laid over them."

"ME!?" April gasped.

"Fraud, deception, an unauthorised takeover of base communication..." Marshal stated.

"I had to do all those things to expose what was going on around here" April defended herself.

"And that is why we will NOT be pressing charges against you" Marshal smiled.

"Do you expect me to be grateful about that?" April said through gritted teeth.

"SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAS HAPPENED!" Sierra cried out.

"Mars has become a Police State" April revealed.

* * *

 **Although this chapter is nothing like 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe', I was inspired by the words of Zaphod Beeblebrox when he described their meal time as "Food, wine, a little personal abuse and the universe going FOOOM!" It pretty much describes what is going on in the minds of April and Calla, but without the food and wine.**


	70. Chapter 70

**It is amazing how your attitude to writing can change over time. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, I was surprised to see a notification in my E-mails that a reader had clicked 'Favourite' on the story Berk: Year One. I had forgotten what was in that story so I went back and read through the second short "The Case of the Fickle Lady." I then noticed in the 2** **nd** **chapter Author Notes, that I was lamenting the lack of reviews even though it already had 300 readers.**

 **These days I feel sorry that I was ever so insecure and am glad to have settled down somewhat, but there may be another reason behind my change in attitude. A few months ago I suffered a (very mild) heart attack and spent a few hours wondering if I would survive the rest of the day. Well as you can easily guess, I did and my health has been okay since then, although there are still more tests to be done. As I lay recuperating, I thought back to the first minutes of the attack remembering what I had been thinking about and it may surprise you what it was.**

 **The thought of dying did not appeal to me, but what I found highly annoying was that if my time had come, this story would not have been completed and none of you would know how it ended. The thought of this really pissed me off.**

 **I was then determined to do two things; Firstly I would do my best not to die till this story was done, and secondly I would never begin to publish an unfinished story ever again. Things are going well with the first vow and the story is coming along nicely but the second means I may have to change plans for the next tale. If I can, I will no longer do a multi layered story like this with action taking place in several different places at once, but will instead do separate stories about each group of characters wherever they are (Mars, Asteroids, America, Sumatra, Dragon Island, etc.)**

 **This way it should not be two years before the next one gets posted, but we will see how we go.**

* * *

Chapter 70

Micro Gravity Friction

"Have you heard the latest news from deep space?" Doom asked Sid and Amos when they emerged from the Satellite Assembly clean room.

"Whatever it is, I just hope it doesn't mean Sarah won't need these satellites anymore" Amos sighed "We've been working really hard to get them ready for launch."

"I don't know what the news means" Doom admitted "but a message just came in from Blue and Calla, and they did not end up going into Mars orbit."

"They coming back to Earth?" Sid asked with wide eyes.

"Apparently they went to 16 Psyche in the asteroid belt and have already started construction of our base" Doom informed them.

"There gonna need a lot more gear then" Sid noted.

"You know Sarah's gonna pull us off this job and get us onto the VASIMR Tug, don't you?" Amos nodded.

"It's a bet I wouldn't be brave enough to take" Sid admitted.

"Then let's check in with Willow and see what's going down" Amos said as he picked up the comms handset.

"(click) hello, Willow Speaking" the Sector Head responded.

"Hey boss, Amos here; do you want me and Sid to start work on the Autonomous Tug?"

"Err, yes... how did you know?"

"Just a hunch" Amos grinned "We'll get right onto it."

Oddly enough, the Peacock of Boastful Pride was away for a few weeks on paternity leave, but that did not stop Sid and Amos from fist bumping and high fiving each other halfway into the next week.

"Oh yeah; we called it" they chanted.

Eventually Doom decided she could take it no longer and started to walk off.

"I think I'd find more stimulating conversation on the husk of a festering coconut" she declared.

Her comment made the two engineers stop and think for a short time.

"Do coconuts ever fester?" Amos wondered.

"I dunno, but I'm sure Willow would be quite upset if we waisted our time finding out" Sid thought.

"Space Tug then?" Amos asked.

"Space Tug indeed" Sid nodded.

* * *

Even though the crew of the MTV had only been at asteroid 16 Psyche for just over a week, there were now many noticeable differences on the surface. The northern axis of the asteroid now had a short tunnel twenty meters wide and three meters deep ground into the surface, while Additive Manufacturing robots had built up a circular wall around the edge over fifty meters high. A fifteen meter wide airlock was planned for the top of the tunnel but until it was transported from Earth, a temporary airtight dome was built over the tunnel while two standard airlocks were built into the sides of the structure near the surface. The transport pods sent up from Earth to carry the fleet of robotic manufacturing drones were then attached to those airlocks, forming a small surface village.

The beginnings of this base currently stood mostly empty, except for the two Dias men working inside the one closest to the tunnel airlock. Luis had just returned from inside the sealed but not yet pressurised tunnel, with the machine head from one of the robotic milling grinders. He kept his space suit on but Blue helped him remove the helmet and gloves.

"This grinder bit seems to have held up well considering how much material it has processed in the last week" Blue noted as he inspected the machine.

"Why do you think that would be?" his father asked.

"Probably because we tested them back on Earth by using hardened steel, whereas the asteroid is mostly iron" Blue revealed.

"Do you still want to change the bits?"

"Yeah; it'll give me a chance to inspect these under a microscope before sharpening them again" Blue decided "Then I should be able to calculate a modified maintenance schedule for the robots."

As Blue removed some tools from his kit and started his task, Luis held the head unit steady. He smiled as he watched his son work; so young yet already so experienced with the machine he repaired. Luis had been surprised when Blue had first told him of how he had helped his friends on Earth to modify the machines to operate in a very low gravity vacuum, when they had been originally designed for use on Mars. But as proud as Luis was of his boy, he knew there was something very delicate he needed to talk over with Blue.

"I've noticed you've been avoiding Miss Calla a fair amount these days" Luis broke the ice "and I hear you had a bit of a disagreement."

"Abby told you huh?"

"She's worried about you leaving, and so am I" Luis stated "It came as a big surprise because I thought you wanted to come to Mars with us and see your mother."

"I do... and I am, but also want to go back to Earth someday" Blue admitted "The trouble is Calla just started jumping to conclusions and quickly went back to her habit of shout now and listen never."

"You have to remember son, Abby and I have only known her a short time so we don't know what she was like in the past."

"To be blunt, selfish and not willing to see things from anyone else's point of view."

"And are you seeing things from her point of view?" Luis asked.

Blue tried to imagine what his father was talking about, but could not quite comprehend his meaning. Seeing the confusion in his son's eyes, Luis attempted to explain.

"Calla has made it quite clear she was willing to go along with all the strange things that have happened to her lately, but it can't have been easy for her because everything happened very suddenly. Suddenly she was going into space, suddenly there was a giant space ship, suddenly she was going to Mars and then suddenly she wasn't going to Mars. The one solid thing she could rely on was knowing you were close by and you always would be."

All fell quiet as Blue continued to replace the cobalt milling bits while thinking about what his father had said.

"I have to ask" Blue spoke eventually "How can you be sure about what Calla is thinking if you haven't known her very long?"

"You wouldn't be asking me that question if you knew your mother" Luis smiled.

* * *

After another long day of listening to almost useless information from the mysterious Deep Council, April Dias slowly made her way home with an armful of testimony she would need to sort out before retiring to bed. Walking silently behind her, April's bodyguard did his best not to upset her any further.

"Well good night Talon; I'm sure I'll see you bright and early tomorrow" she said when she reached her door.

"Umm... Mrs. Dias... could I speak with you for a minute please?" Talon asked.

April shook her head and sighed quietly before turning around to face the young man.

"I suppose" she replied.

"Umm... inside please?" he responded.

"Can't this wait till later when I'm rested?"

"Please Mrs. Dias" he repeated "It's important."

"Alright" April sighed again as she opened the door.

"Hi Mom" Saffron greeted her mother "Another fun day at the... what's he doing here?"

Saffron turned bright red, having been caught in her pyjamas by this unexpected intruder, who she fully expected would take every opportunity to tease her about it later.

"Have you had your dinner Saffy?" April asked because she could not honestly answer her daughter's question yet.

"Err... yes" Saffron replied.

"Then please go to bed and we'll talk in the morning" April ordered in her weary voice.

"But Mom it's so early" the young girl protested.

"Then go play a game or something" April snapped "I'll come and see you in a few minutes.

"Yes Mom" Saffron knew it would not be wise to push the matter any further.

"Now what do you want" April demanded to know as she flopped back into her favourite chair.

"I've err... got a problem" Talon admitted.

"You're a bit too old to be going through puberty" April smirked.

"No it's nothing like that" Talon sneered "It's about my mother."

"She's definitely too old to be going through puberty" April smiled to herself "Menopause perhaps..."

"Can you be serious for a minute" Talon huffed as frustration set in.

"It's not easy when I'm this tired, but I'll try."

"Thank you."

Talon tried to collect his thoughts before continuing.

"Most of what I've always believed came from listening to my mother's opinions at home. At school the younger kids never concerned themselves with base operations and the instructors never spoke about it in front of us."

'What about your father; didn't he have an opinion too?" April asked.

"He would sort of keep all that to himself to avoid getting into an argument; but now I'm in the Security Force, I've been hearing so many different sides to the story that I never considered before. Most people seem to trust you and believe you really did have no other choice but to do what you did on the day of the memorial service; but there are still those who think you're planning some kind of rebellion or just making trouble for no reason."

"What do you think?" April asked calmly.

"That's my problem Mrs. Dias; I don't know what to think any more. The people who argue against you seem to be making up their own facts to suit their beliefs and..."

"And what?" April prompted Talon to go on when he paused.

"And... they all sound just like my mother" Talon noted.

"I think I'm beginning to understand" April looked at Talon suspiciously.

"I... I think my mother is a member of the Deep Council" he admitted.

"I have a mental list of the people I suspect are in the Deep Council" April revealed "and both your parents are right at the top of it, even though I have no way of knowing for sure. Tell me Talon, why did you join the Security Force?"

"Well it was Mom's idea; she said I should let other people build and maintain society, while I should be one of those who ran it. She said being in the Security Force would put me on the path to leadership."

"I can see why Gretel would want that for you, but you don't sound very keen on the idea" April noted.

"I was at first; I'm sure Holly Duncan would have told Saffy about how I like to be in charge of class projects, but after hearing people's opinion of the Deep Council, I'm not sure I want to allow myself to be drawn into something like that."

"So what do you want me to do about it?" April asked "You can always quit."

"I know you don't like the idea of having me as a bodyguard..." Talon began but was soon interrupted.

"You're not my bodyguard" April said accusingly "You're an informant for your mother; she knows she can find out about everything I say and do from you."

"Yes... I know" Talon admitted "But I want you to let me continue to play the part; to pretend I really am you bodyguard even though it's obvious to everyone you're not in any danger. I want to stick close to you for a while and find out what really is going on behind the scenes for myself."

April just stared at the young man suspiciously for a moment, feeling very unsure about how to proceed.

"I admit you sound sincere, but I'm still not sure I can trust you" she stated bluntly.

Talon took a deep breath and stood up to leave.

"I can understand how you feel" he said before a slight pause "I just hope I can give you reason to change your mind in the future."

As the door closed behind Talon, the Wood Duck of Curiosity and the White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern teamed up to wreak havoc on April's piece of mind. If what Talon had told her was true, then she could be confident that most of the base were behind her, even though she seemed under constant attack from her opposition. This was a pressure April did not ask for and did not want, but she was sure no one would allow her to go back to Base 2 to tend to her precious plants in the near future.

She shuffled wearily towards Saffron's room to say goodnight, hoping she wouldn't just collapse before reaching her own bed. If only April could get her brain to shut up for a few hours, maybe she could get some proper sleep for the first time in many days.

* * *

With their time in the bunker over for the time being, Shifty and Reed prepared for the long walk back up the ramp to the surface. In a reversal of what they did when entering, the two men helped load all the equipment they had repaired and built onto the electric cargo movers and pushcarts. They could still get help to lift anything too big for them, but in general Shifty's friends avoided him while he was in the company of the bossy and opinionated captain of the One and All.

"Any plans about what you're gonna do till the next shift underground?" Shifty asked.

"Keep my head down, my nose clean and hope for the best" Reed replied.

"I assume I'll be able to tell everyone back in town what you've been up to now."

"Not everyone, just the people you trust" Reed advised "I really needed everyone to argue with me this time but when we come back, ignoring me will be enough."

As soon as the next pushcart was loaded, Shifty took it over to the exit tunnel but when he turned to go back, he saw a few of the guards had surrounded Captain Branson and were talking earnestly to him. Not wanting to look suspicious, Shifty casually wove his way through the crowd of people milling in the departure area and back to where he and Reed were working. He was only half way there when one of the guards led Reed back inside the complex.

"Hey... where are you taking Captain Branson?" he asked one of the remaining guards.

"Now is that really any of your business Shifty?" the guard looked down menacingly.

"I need his help to finish loading" he replied.

"Then get some other bonehead if you're too weak" the guards laughed as they turned and walked away.

Just before they rounded the next corner, the last guard glanced back to see a very annoyed looking Shifty scowling as he turned red with anger. But as soon as the small group of intimidators were out of sight, a self satisfied grin crept across Shifty's face.

"I love it when a plan comes together" he smirked.

* * *

 **Sorry for getting so serious at the beginning but I knew you all deserved to know what was going on just in case I suddenly disappeared from this site without a trace some day. Doctors are quite happy so I finally felt confident enough to let you all know now the danger is over. I noticed Vin has started reading through the story and it reminded me that I had not given a thank you shout out to those reading and also to those reviewing.**

 **So first let me say thanks to Stripesicles222 for the joy you bring me with your constant friendship. And Draco38, I am always pleased to see that picture of Toshiro Mifune on the review page; it shows that even though you read my stories, you still have excellent taste (lol). When I started putting the Mystical Birds of the Soul in this story, I was not sure how they would be received so I was very pleased when Appleye2 mentioned his/her appreciation for them as well as for my odd sense of humour; Domo arigato Ringo Ni (thank you Appleye2 in Japanese... I think).**

 **Midnightsky0612 gave the simple one word review of 'Interesting' which was more than enough, because I am just so glad you didn't say it was boring. Thanks again Vin for joining the fray and I also want to thank that one special guest reviewer who said of chapter one, "This is dumb af." You gave me a good laugh with your blatant honesty and I'm sorry the story was not to your taste.**

 **Not sure how many are reading but I think it is around 20 people, which is my lowest ever readership for a story. This means I appreciated you all even more for reading this first original story, long before the dragons even make an appearance.**

 **You make it all worthwhile for me... thank you so much.**

 **(Since this chapter had the longest Author Notes, next week will be the shortest.)**


	71. Chapter 71

**Hi :)**

* * *

Chapter 71

Temporary Truce

The sun shone quite brightly outside the bunker so after a spending a week deep underground, Shifty had to shield his eyes until he could become accustomed to the light once more. All around him people were busy loading and unloading supplies and equipment as the weekly swap over hit full swing.

"Want a hand with your gear son?"

Shifty squinted and was pleased to make out the silhouette of Jack Sumner walking towards him.

"I haven't seen the Cap'n" Jack noted "I assume that is a good thing."

"It almost didn't happen" Shifty revealed "Everything went well but they didn't grab him until the very last minute; so unfortunately I don't have any information to tell you yet."

"Never mind m'boy; your dad and I have got everything ready so we'll just stick to Plan A for now and hope for the best."

As soon as the gear swap was complete, Jack mentally readied himself for a week underground. He was in no way claustrophobic but deep dark tunnels and aging sailors were not usually a very comfortable fit.

"Wish me lu..."

"METEOR!" a cry from behind Jack warned the crowd.

High in the sky and far to the northwest, a line of bright light streaked towards the northern horizon.

"IT'S GONE ATMOSPHERIC" someone else noted as everyone dashed for any cover they could find.

Everyone knew the canyon around them would afford some protection, but it was impossible to know exactly what would happen in the immediate future. The shockwave from the atmospheric explosion sent dirt and rubble from the hilltops raining down on the people below. They sheltered behind trucks and busses, while those close enough to the tunnel entrance had run inside. A short time later when the dust was starting to clear, another bright light lit up the sky to the north.

"IT'S A STRIKER" somebody else's voice boomed "EVERYONE STAY DOWN!"

It took almost thirty seconds before the ground began to rumble again, but it was the overhead fire that caused the most worry. It had been many years since Jack had felt so much radiant heat and he knew it meant disaster for anyone above ground. As the second shockwave dissipated, anyone still able to walk began fighting fires and helping those who were not so lucky. There were several people who were badly burned and the nauseating smell of singed hair hung in the air like an olfactory warning of what the people would find back at their homes.

Once those needing medical attention had been transported back inside, everyone remaining on the surface began to work on checking over their vehicles and making them ready to start work again. The rear tarp on one of the trucks had caught on fire, but now it had been beaten out so the people began re-loading some of their food supplies back inside.

"HEY!" the head guard called out "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH THAT FOOD?"

"Are you kidding?" one of the farmers answered "After a strike that big, they're gonna need fresh supplies all across the settlement."

"You know how it works; you leave the food here now and come back when you know for sure what is needed and where."

"But this is our chance to get help out quickly" the farmer argued "You've still got plenty in reserve and we'll bring back anything not needed."

On the order of their leader, all the guards took up their weapons and pointed them at the people from El Centro, who stopped moving about and slowly raised their hands.

"Leave the food and go find out how bad things are" the head guard repeated "When you bring back your report, we'll talk about what supplies you need."

"But you already have so much stored here, surely it wouldn't hurt..."

The farmer jumped back in surprise as a bullet hit the ground half a meter to his left. Jack Sumner spun around and looked up to see the sun reflect off the lens of the snipers scope.

"There will be no more arguments" the guard hissed "Now repeat what I just said."

"Th... there will be no more arguments" the farmer replied.

"I will go now and prepare a damage report."

"I will go now and prepare a damage report" he repeated.

"And I will not be so presumptuous as to question your orders ever again."

The farmer stood defiantly for a few seconds until the guard took out his side arm; there was a very distinct click as he pulled the hammer back.

"And I will not be so presumptuous... as to question your orders ever again."

"That's better" the head guard sneered as he replaced his weapon.

As the rest of the guards backed off, everyone lowered their arms and returned to work.

"Is it always this bad?" Jack whispered.

"Not really, but we've never had a strike occur during change over" Shifty noted "and I don't remember ever seeing one so big before."

"How far north of El Centro does your community reach?" Jack asked.

"About fifty or sixty kilometres" Shifty replied.

"I'd guess that would be almost halfway to the impact zone; it's not gonna be pretty up there."

Shifty looked around at the damaged vehicles and infrastructure.

"And we had some protection from the canyon walls too, but the people up north didn't" Shifty sighed.

Jack noticed the last of the people going in were making their way towards the tunnel entrance so he knew he would have to hurry.

"Talk to my people" he told Shifty "They'll help where they can and may even be able to evacuate some of your community to somewhere a little safer till you can rebuild. I'll try and let the Cap'n know and we'll talk again about it next week."

"Good luck" Shifty said.

"Thanks; but I think you'll need it more than I will."

* * *

Back onboard the MTV at last, Blue made his way straight to the Artificial Gravity Ring and to Calla's sleeping quarters in the habitat section. He knew he had to try and make peace with her once again and just hoped she had calmed down and was ready to hear a reasonable apology.

Blue found his young companion sitting at her desk, perusing the schematics of an ore processing robot on the computer screen.

"Hi Calla" he announced himself "Can I come in?"

"Doors open isn't it?" she replied without looking up.

Blue stepped in and went to sit on the end of the bed before realising what he was about to do; clearly embarrassed he stumbled back onto his feet.

"It's err... more of a hatch than a door but... oh never mind; whatcha doin'?" he asked nervously.

"Abby's going to do some preventative maintenance of a few of these machines tomorrow and she said it would help if I could disconnect the electrical leads and remove the motors" Calla told him "Even if I can't work it out myself, she said it would good if I knew what to look for when we opened 'em up."

"I... I'm glad you and Abby are getting along so well" Blue admitted.

"Yeah she's cool" Calla nodded.

"Can... we talk for a minute?" Blue asked.

"We are talking" Calla replied.

"Yeah... well... it's about me going back to Earth; Dad and Abby helped me to understand why you were so upset about it."

"Really?" Calla looked up from the screen "And what great insights have they bestowed upon you?"

"They said I failed to realise that although you don't want to go back, maybe you still want us to stay together for..."

"WHOA hold on there a minute" Calla interrupted.

"W-what?" Blue spluttered.

"Before you embarrass yourself any further..." Calla stopped and thought for a moment "...maybe I should take a leaf from your book."

"My book? I don't understand."

"It's like Doctor Spencer once told me" Calla explained "you tend talk about what you're feeling, but I've never been able to do that before."

"What you're feeling?" Blue gulped.

"I hate to admit it but... I feel..."

Blue failed to notice he had stopped breathing in anticipation and so when Calla paused for such a long time, the young man truly lived up to his name.

"...scared" she finally said.

Blue exhaled and started to breathe again.

"You feel... scared?" he repeated, unsure if he was disappointed or relieved.

"Do you remember when I first arrived inside the Railgun Complex?"

"I don't think I'll ever forget it" Blue declared bluntly.

"Well up to that point, I'd travelled everywhere with the rest of my family and Dad was always close by" Calla explained.

"But when Alice fell down the rabbit hole, she found herself all alone for the first time" Blue realised.

"Who's Alice?" Calla asked confused.

"Book reference; never mind."

"When you took me back to the staging area and all those engineers started chasing me, I must admit... I was terrified."

"I can understand why you'd feel that way" Blue nodded.

"I was alone with all those strange people and I wasn't sure if I'd ever see my Dad and Emerson again. And when you said you were going back to Earth recently, those same fears came flooding back, but it was far worse this time. If Dad had been with me on that fateful day, I wouldn't have been so scared then and I wouldn't have had the flashback of terror now."

"Would it help if I promised not to go until someone else from Earth gets here?" Blue offered "Maybe your parents..."

"No!" Calla held up her hand "It was just the shock of finding out. I'm getting use to the idea now and besides, I don't want to keep acting like a frightened little kid all my life; it's embarrassing."

Blue smiled at Calla; he was still quite surprised she had admitted what was really wrong.

"Did I ever tell you how grateful am?" he said "Without your help I would have lost my father and sister... and you came up with that trick with the inflatable life raft."

"If you're trying to make me feel better, it's kinda working" Calla smiled back.

"I wouldn't worry about not being perfect" Blue offered "Not everyone can be like me."

He turned to leave but before he stepped through the doorway, a small pillow hit him in the back of the head.

* * *

April Dias awoke with a start. She had forgotten to turn on her alarm and knew she had overslept. In her hands she held on tightly to a small metal floral pin with petals encrusted with brightly coloured ground glass. It had long been her habit to keep it with her whenever Luis was away in space but with all the recent trouble, she could not even bring herself to place it on the bedside table last night, so her left palm now bore a flower shaped indentation.

"Where are you rushing off to?" Saffron asked as her mother hurried out of her room, heading for the front door.

"The medical staff are checking in on the MTV this morning" April informed her daughter.

"Can I come too?" Saffron rose from the breakfast table.

"Sorry Saffy but I don't think they even want me to be there."

Talon Descott fell in behind April as she flew out the doorway and hurried off down the corridor.

"Running a bit late this morning, eh Mrs Dias?"

"Just keep up or I'll leave you behind" she called back.

"I don't doubt it in the least" Talon replied.

After a long walk through the base corridors, they arrived to find two members of the medical staff standing by with Florian Klein, while Marshal Barron attempted to make contact with Luis on the MTV. The base leader was certainly surprised to see April and Talon enter the room.

"What the hell... who told you we were making contact this morning" Marshal barked his question.

"I did!" Florian admitted bluntly "Why shouldn't she be allowed in here?"

"Well... just keep quiet while the doctors check on the MTV crew" Marshal insisted.

"I'm not a doctor, I'm a Paramedic" one of the medical staff noted.

"Just shut up and do your job" the obviously upset Marshal hissed.

"What's got his panties in a bunch?" April said quietly to Florian.

"Shh" Florian replied while trying not to laugh.

April was relieved to hear Luis's voice soon after as firm contact was made at last. Marshal Barron handed over his headset to the one Med Staff member present who was a doctor, before stepping aside to stand menacingly close to April.

"You; go sit in the corner" he barked at Talon, who did as he was told.

"There's no need for you to treat my bodyguard like that" April whispered.

"He works for me and I'll treat him however I want" Barron replied.

"You're turning into a right little dictator" April added fuel to the already out of control fire.

She could almost see the steam shooting from Marshals ears but instead of continuing the fight, the angry man just listened closely to the information Luis was providing the doctor. There were readings on blood pressure, eye scans, skin condition, urine samples, body temperature, oral swabs and more, for each of the four crew members.

As she continued to wait patiently for all the figures to come in, April was surprised to notice Marshal Barron looking over towards the Paramedic with a look of annoyed confusion. The Medic looked back equally confused and just shrugged his shoulders. Unable to accept the situation, Barron strode over to the Comms Desk and picked up on one of the headsets.

"Dias, this is Marshal Barron; can you verify the authenticity of the figures you have just sent through?"

"I can indeed sir" Luis replied "I triple checked all the readings myself before recording them."

"How old are these readings Major?" Barron asked.

"All readings are between twelve and thirty six hours old" Luis informed them.

Barron and the medic seemed to be trying to converse through eye contact alone which made April even more suspicious.

"Tell me Major; how is the supply situation up there?" Marshal Barron asked.

"No shortages to report Sir" Luis replied.

"How long has it been since you accessed the Supply Ship we sent you?" Barron checked.

"Supply Ship not accessed yet Sir" came the unexpected reply.

"Why not Major? By our calculations, you would have been close to exhausting your supplies a week ago."

April looked over at Florian Klein and whispered a question.

"Why is Marshal so concerned about what food they've been eating?"

"I... I don't know" Florian replied.

"Doctor Spencer sent us a six month supply of consumables, so we have not needed to use the supplies sent from Mars at this time."

"There were some personal items sent up for you as well, maybe you should go and retrieve them" Barron suggested.

"Oh no... don't tell me..." Florian realised something.

"Thank you for thinking of us Sir, but we are unable to access the Supply Ship because we are currently orbiting asteroid 16 Psyche."

If the top of Marshal Barron's head was hinged, April felt sure he would have blown his top.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING IN THE ASTEROID BELT?" Barron shouted, even though none of them were on Earth.

"Because we were given such a long quarantine time, I thought it would be nice if we returned the favour we owed to the people of the Railgun Complex; so we are giving their base plans a little kick start."

"What favour?" Marshal asked in desperation.

"They did save our lives after Sage cut us loose... remember?" Luis pointed out the obvious.

"I'm giving you twenty four hours to finish up there and start back for the orbit station" Barron ordered.

"I'm afraid I can't comply Sir" Luis informed his red faced Commander in Chief.

"And why not?" Barron steamed.

"Well... my son's co-pilot is rather suspicious about food sent from Mars and would rather not come into contact with any of it for now. Call it a two way quarantine if you like."

"AND WHY SHOULD I CARE WHAT THAT LITTLE EARTH BRAT WANTS?"Barron exploded again.

"As I said, she did help save our lives and has been kind enough to indulge our quarantine requirements."

"Listen to me very closely Major" Barron said through clenched teeth "There will be no more of this insubordination; you will turn the MTV around right now and return to Mars Orbit Station for the rest of the quarantine period. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a short silent pause before Luis dropped his last bombshell.

"If you say so Sir, but we will not be accessing the contaminated food in the Supply Ship" Luis declared, leaving a sea of shocked faces on Mars.

* * *

 **Bye :D**


	72. Chapter 72

**Summer is still weeks away but we are already getting temperatures in the high 90s (gasp!).**

 **When I was out on the road yesterday (being thankful for good air conditioning), I saw a guy in a new Ferrari and I began to think like this; I could steal his car, sell it and live off the proceeds while writing full time. In the end I thought I'd better not because stealing is stealing and it's not a nice thing to do at all.**

 **So I just wanted to say if any of you have a spare Ferrari hanging around not being used, just stick it in a shipping container and post it to me here in Oz. Sorry to say I do not know how many stamps you'll need, but I'm sure your local post office can help with that.**

* * *

Chapter 72

The Beginning of The End

"If you say so Sir, but we will not be accessing the contaminated food in the Supply Ship."

Luis's blunt response to Marshal Baron's return order left the room in a temporary state of silence. The shock on April's face was surpassed only by the look of fear on the face of the young Paramedic.

"I'M NOT HAVING ANYTHING MORE TO DO WITH THIS" he suddenly cried out "I KNEW WE'D NEVER GET AWAY WITH IT."

Marshal Barron took a deep breath and turned bright red as the Paramedic ran out the room so fast, he almost knocked himself out on the doorframe.

"Contaminated food?" April also turned red, but with rage "What have you done Marshal?"

"I haven't done anything; Luis is just making unfounded assumptions" Barron defended himself.

"Seems like a pretty good guess to me" Florian said accusingly.

"This is incredible" April began breathing heavily while pacing in tiny circles.

"It looks to me like you will do almost anything the Deep Council tell you too" Florian shook his head in disgust "What have they got on you? It must be pretty bad."

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU PROMISED THEM FLORIAN" April cried out "THIS HAS GOT TO STOP; YOU HAVE TO TELL US WHO THE MEMBERS OF THE DEEP COUNCIL ARE, AND YOU HAVE TO DO IT NOW!"

Florian Klein hung his head in shame. It was very plain to see he had made the wrong decision in keeping quiet.

"Alright April... yes... yes I will" the elderly man sighed "Just give me fifteen minutes to tell Professor Topolski; I owe him the courtesy of finding out from me first."

April thought for a moment before nodding her head reluctantly.

"I'll come and see you in sixteen minutes" she stated as Florian left.

The Doctor rose from his seat and hurried to the door as well, but April raised her hand to his chest making him stop in his tracks.

"And where do you think you're going?" she growled in his face.

"Let me go April; I have to try and find out what was sent in the Supply Capsule and how dangerous it is."

Another second of thought and April stepped out of the Doctors way.

"I'll be around to see you soon too!" she called after him.

Just then, a loud Claxton alarm echoed throughout the base followed by an important announcement.

"Emergency; Emergency! Medical Response Team to southwest factory floor!"

The message repeated a few times before Talon approached April and spoke into her ear.

"I just realised Mrs. Dias; the southwest factory floor is just down the corridor from here.

Neither of them knew if there were any connection, but they both hurried off anyway to check it out for themselves. April took the lead as usual while Talon hurried along behind her as fast as he could.

"WAIT; NOT THAT WAY!" he called out as April opened the stairwell door.

"But the factory floor is three levels down" she protested.

"True, but you can see the entire place from the gantry crane access walkway" Talon revealed.

Only a few meters further on, Talon held another door open for April. They stepped out onto a metal walkway that ran around the entire area, looked out over the factory floor and saw a small group of people gathered around the body of the Paramedic, lying in a pool of blood three floors below them.

"Oh my God" Talon gasped and exited back to the corridor with April following close behind.

She leant on the wall and gasped for breath, but her legs soon lost all strength and she slid down to the floor.

"That would have to be the most horrible thing I've ever seen; I think I'm gonna be sick" Talon continued to breath heavily.

Nothing more was said for a few minutes as April and Talon listened to sounds of mild panic drifting up from below.

'Mrs. Dias" the young man sought her attention.

"What is it?" she replied.

"Do you think he killed himself or..."

Talon found he could not complete his thought, so April tried instead.

"Or was he murdered to keep him from talking?" she said.

"Well... yeah" Talon nodded.

"I wish I knew. The Deep Council may have been blackmailing him and the thought of their information becoming public knowledge may have been too much for him to cope with. On the other hand you're right to think they could be desperate enough to... to... oh no... Florian!"

April clambered back onto her feet and hurried off down the corridor with Talon in his usual place bringing up the rear. They ran as fast as they could to the nearest main thoroughfare that ran the length of the base. Most people walked along these boulevards but April did not have time to dawdle.

"Hurry up or I'll leave you behind" she called back and jumped into the driver's seat of a small electric cargo mover.

"GO!" Talon called out as he threw himself in the rear tray.

It wasn't a very fast vehicle but people still had to move quickly to avoid being struck by the solid little cart. April's right foot was flat to the floor and her hands alternated between steering the vehicle and sounding the horn.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!" Talon called out after standing up in the back.

The cart was thin so it was also quite unstable, and it rocked from side to side as April tried desperately to avoid pedestrians while staying at full speed. Two kilometres down the road, they approached their destination still at full pace. The cart was only a few meters from the entrance to habitat section L7 when April finally hit the brakes hard. It had not been her intention to cause Talon any harm but that did not keep him from sailing over the drivers cab and hitting the ground with an audible thump.

"Are you okay?" April called out as Talon rolled to a stop a few meters away.

"I'll live" he replied as he clambered to his feet.

"Sorry about that" April offered before bursting through the double doors.

Talon limped after her, knowing he would not be able to keep up but willing to try. He eventually found April standing outside Klein's home thumping on the door with her right hand and hitting the call button with her left, all the while shouting out his name at the top of her voice.

"Stand back Mrs. Dias" Talon ordered.

He pulled the I.D. card from his chest pocket and tapped it against the call button.

"Perks of being in the Security Force" he said as the door slid open.

April rushed in and looked around still calling Florian's name, but it was soon apparent he was not there.

'Wait a minute" Talon realised something "When he left the Comms Room he wasn't headed home, he was going to see Professor Topolski."

"And Leonard isn't teaching because he's still on leave from Base Two" April added.

They hurried back out, not bothering to close the door behind them. Fortunately for Talon and his slightly bruised leg, Professor Topolski's rooms were only a short distance away. April still arrive there first and resumed her ritual of hitting things and shouting.

"Looks like they're not here either" Talon noted as he retrieved his I.D. card and used it again.

"I'm surprised you're permitted to just open any door you want with impunity" April noted.

"Oh the system records every door I override and I have to fill out a report later explaining why I..."

Talon stopped short as the door opened up to reveal yet another gruesome sight; Florian Klein and Leonard Topolski were both inside, and both were also quite obviously dead.

April and Talon stood in stunned silence just staring at the deceased men for a moment, but when April moved towards them, Talon quickly grabbed her elbow.

"Don't; this is a crime scene now" he advised.

April soon found herself sitting on the floor again, just outside the door. Finding the bodies of two of her closest friends after hearing about the danger to her family was too much for her to cope with and she soon fell into a state of shock. Talon too was still feeling very ill, but he managed to keep a clear head as he took out his communicator and reported what he and April had found. With more security officers on the way, Talon decided to take a quick look inside to see if he could spot anything that might be important.

The first thing to catch his eye was the coffee table the bodies were near; on there was a bottle and next to it, small container containing four tiny white pills while two shot glasses lay on the floor nearby. Talon knew time was not on his side so he set his communicator to video record and slowly moved it around the area. In just over a minute he heard the sound of approaching boots, so he slipped the communicator into his top pocket and moved back over to the doorway.

"What the hell..." the first man inside gasped.

"Mrs. Dias and I found them like this" Talon reported "Nothing has been touched Sir and so with your permission, I would like to escort Mrs. Dias home so she can rest."

"I think you should take her to the nearest Medical Bay" the man suggested.

"Yes Sir" Talon acknowledged.

* * *

April began to feel as if any bad day could easily be made much worse just by giving it the right opportunity. After all that had happened, she now received a stern rebuke from her Obstetrician. Even before the events of the day, there was concern April had been pushing herself far too much considering her condition and her doctor insisted she undertake an ultrasound test just to be on the safe side.

While she was being taken care of, Talon took a trip to the other side of the base with the intention of finding Saffron. As he entered his old learning suite, Dexter Riley looked up from his work in surprise.

"I didn't expect to see you back here so soon" he stated "I thought you were gone for good."

"There's been some trouble" Talon stated "I need to find Saffron Dias."

Riley looked sternly into the young man's eyes. Given the violent history he had with the ten year old girl, the cautious instructor wasn't sure if the new security officer wasn't trying to use his position for some kind of revenge. Talon could see the doubt on his former instructors face and knew he would have to explain without revealing anything about the deaths of Topolski and Klein. News was already spreading about the apparent suicide of a Paramedic, so he used that as an excuse.

"Mrs. Dias and I were near the southwest factory floor during the recent emergency; you may have heard one of the base Paramedics was killed in a fall from the gantry crane access walkway. It was quite a shocking sight so Mrs. Dias and her unborn child are now receiving a medical check up. She will want to talk to her daughter when the doctor is finished."

Riley nodded when he realised Talon was genuinely concerned for Saffron and her mother.

"The entire class in down one of the new tunnels studying Martian Geology" the instructor revealed "I'll call to have them brought out and you can meet them near the tunnel airlock."

"Thank you Sir" Talon nodded and went on his way.

Dexter Riley could not help but ponder the obvious change in attitude Talon was showing and mistakenly assumed it was because of his new responsibilities in the Mars Security Force. He had no way of knowing it was totally due to the influence of April Dias, the woman Talon had previously insulted and distrusted.

Half an hour later, Talon and Saffron arrived safely back at the Medical Suite, only to find a small group of people, including the leader of the Citizens Council, waiting outside to see her mother.

"Can I go in and see my Mom?" Saffron asked one of the nurses on duty.

"I should think so Honey" she smiled "I'll just check."

The nurse disappeared down the corridor leading to the examination rooms and returned soon after. She then escorted Saffron to a room where she found her mother sitting up in bed chatting to one of the doctors.

"Ah come in Miss Dias" the doctor got up from her seat "You'll be happy to hear all is well so I'll leave you two to talk for now."

She then turned back to face April and spoke a little more sternly.

"But I have a few more things to say to you later about taking better care of yourself."

There were two chairs close by, but Saffron just ignored them both and climbed up on the bed next to her mother.

"I can't believe Professor Topolski and Papa Klein are both dead" she cried softly.

"It was a real shock alright" April agreed.

"Is that why you're sick?" the young girl asked.

"I'm alright sweetie; I was just a little upset" April admitted.

Saffron snuggled into her mother's side and just lay there for a few minutes, trying to relax but finding it very hard to do so.

"But how is the..." Saffron faltered.

"The baby is okay too" April said reassuringly "The doctor just said I need to rest for a while."

Very little more was said as mother and daughter lay comforting each other until the nurse returned twenty minutes later.

"The doctor said you can receive other visitors if you like. Do you feel up to it?"

"Yes but not here" April replied "I'd rather go home where my bodyguard can boss people around when I tell him too."

"You're wicked Mrs. Dias" the nurse smiled.

Her doctor insisted April allow herself to be driven home and was surprised when she did not resist; even though she felt fine, April had decided she deserved a little pampering. Marshal Baron tried to talk to her on the way out of the medical suite, but April decided to put herself into a position of power over the leader of Mars and told him to make an appointment. Later, as a kind of joke partly designed to annoy anyone April felt like annoying, she temporarily turned Abigail's bedroom into an office and meeting room. Talon Descott was given a small desk just inside the front door while Ruth Kinderman had a larger one near the passage to the bedrooms.

While Ruth did her best to organise April's notes on the Deep Council Investigation, Talon made sure anyone who was let in, knew they were only there as long as April allowed it to be so.

"How long are we going to have to wait here?" Marshal Baron said impatiently.

"It won't be much longer sir" Ruth smiled sweetly "Mrs. Dias just needs a little time with her daughter before she comes out."

Barron sat heavily on the couch between Sierra Corbin and Victor Kittredge, the other two members of April's investigation team, and mumbled to himself about how Olive Roux was never treated this badly. A few minutes later April emerged from Saffron's bedroom and greeted everyone.

"Sorry to keep you waiting but I had something very important to talk over with Saffy first" she informed those present.

"I'm trying to be understanding April, but I do have a lot of work to do in dealing with all these sudden deaths" Marshal was also trying to keep a cool head. "Now first things first; I know I'm being rather insensitive, but how long do you think it will be before you can recommence the investigation?"

"There will be no recommencement of the investigation because there really is no point anymore" April shocked everyone.

"WHY THE HELL NOT?" Marshal lost his cool completely.

"There's no point because now the Deep Council has done away with the only two people who could reveal their identities to me, they've managed to make finding out the truth effectively impossible."

"I don't have all the facts from Security yet, but first indications say it looks like Topolski and Klein may have had a suicide pact" Marshal Barron noted.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard" Sierra Corbin barked.

"As I said, we don't know for sure" Barron countered "but no matter what you think April, everyone on Mars still expects the probe into the Deep Council to continue. We just can't move on until it's done and dusted."

"I knew this was a bad idea from the very beginning and now I maintain it's an impossible task, unless each member of the Deep Council reveals their identities first; and you know that'll never happen. So if you want to keep going, you'll have to find someone else to head it up this farce because I'm not having anything more to do with it" April declared plainly.

"You're making a big mistake April!" Baron insisted.

"So are you if you think you can intimidate me" she replied.

* * *

 **I've gotten to that special point in the story where it finally takes over my life. Dishes are piled up in the sink, vacuuming not done, I'm wishing the clock wouldn't keep telling me it's time to go to work; you get the idea. I remember it first happened when the Seasick Dragon story was nearing its end, so I know what to expect now.**

 **A few weeks of obsessive writing, followed by great satisfaction upon completion and ending with the feeling of being lost and empty without anything worthwhile to do for a few days... then starting the whole thing all over again with a new book.**

 **Yeah, I think I've flipped out too. :D**


	73. Chapter 73

**I was having trouble keeping the whole story clear in my head as I wrote, so I've separated it into two arcs; Earth and Space. So now I spend a week or more just writing about five or six thousand words on one part of the story before going back to the other. This is why the next several chapters will alternate between the two arcs rather than having both in a chapter. Sorry if you've been waiting to find out what is happening on Mars, but there will be a full chapter of it next time.**

* * *

Chapter 73

Jacks Big Adventure

Even during his trip down the tunnel, Jack Sumner could see the similarities between the bunker and the Railgun complex. But just like Reed Branson had done a week ago, he also noticed how much more oppressive the place was. Light was scarce, the walls were filthy and there was a definite musty smell in the air. By the time he arrived in the first main room, most families had already themselves set up on the same bunk beds they always used, while Jack had no other choice but to wander around until he found the only empty bed, normally used by the person who had given up their week underground for him.

He left his gear sack under the bed and hurried after the others who were headed to the first workshop. Shifty's dad Smit Cloud Dancer had gone over normal operating procedures thoroughly with Jack so he knew what to expect as he made his way deeper into the complex. So when he arrived in the workshop, Jack looked around until he noticed some men trying to manoeuvre a huge transaxle and went to help them.

"We'll put it over by the south wall" one of them suggested "It should be out of the way there until we've finished with it."

When the unit was finally placed in the desired location, most of the men left to begin other tasks but Jack stayed to help with the dismantling of the gear box. It took several hours to remove enough of its casing and inner works before they finally managed to get to the offending part that made the transaxle nothing more than a giant paperweight.

"Just think; a simple sheared cotter pin managed to cause this much damage" one of the men sighed.

"But how?" Jack asked.

"When the pin broke, the gear it held was able to move on its spline so instead of turning in a constant and smooth manner, it would slip back and forth getting hammered by the drive gear. It was only a matter of time before the gear teeth started cracking off and when the first one went, the rest soon followed."

"So were do we start?" Jack readied himself.

"We don't; unless you're an expert machinist" the man smiled.

"Well err... no" Jack admitted.

"I didn't think so" the man nodded "Then while I find someone who can fabricate some new gears, you can get started cleaning out the swarf and broken teeth from the bottom of the casing."

"Oh I'm sure you can fine some other unskilled labourer to do all that" a booming voice caught them both off guard.

Jack turned with a start to see three of the bunkers guards looking at him menacingly. Things appeared to be moving much quicker for him than they had for Reed, but he made sure he did not look too keen.

"Is your name Jack Sumner?" the centre guard asked.

"Y-yes" Jack replied nervously.

"What's this all about?" the other man asked.

"The Colonel wants to have a friendly chat with this man, and you want to mind you own business; don't you?" the guard snapped.

The man said nothing more but did take a step back in obvious submission to the guard's veiled threat. Jack soon found himself being escorted further inside the complex past store rooms, other dormitories, specialty machine shops and refineries until he began to notice a definite change in the condition of his surroundings. The lighting was a little brighter, the floor and walls a little cleaner, and the smell of the refineries was replaced by a more floral like aroma. As the group walked in relative silence, Jack also noticed he was seeing fewer and fewer of the people from above and more armed checkpoints. The last one he saw looked impenetrable with a wall of heavy steel bars and two tripod mounted machine guns on either side of the locked entrance.

Jack wondered if this was where Professor Adisa and Henry Dias had been taken but he would have to wait to find out. Twenty meters before they reached the gate, the guards led Jack down a passageway to the left passed some ordinary looking office doors, until they finally reached the one marked Col. J. Cook. Inside was a small reception room with a single desk and an empty office chair. The head guard walked around the desk to large ornate door made of what appeared to be stained teak.

"We've got Sumner here Colonel" he spoke into an intercom by the door.

"Good; bring him in" a static filled voice replied.

The Stormy Petrel of Mild Surprise did a number on Jack, just as it had done on Reed Branson when he had first seen the Colonel's office. The teak door gave anyone about to pass through its frame, the perfect impression of the room they would find behind it. There was a giant Persian rug covering the highly polished hardwood floor with antique red leather couches on each side of the door. Landscape oil paintings hung on the black floral wallpaper behind the couches, while the walls to the left and right consisted of floor to ceiling bookshelves. On the far side of the huge room sat a walnut inlayed oak desk, big enough to land a helicopter on. Behind the desk there was gas log fireplace with a black marble mantle and another polished teak door on each side. Although he wondered briefly about them, Jack had no way of knowing that the door on the left led to the Colonels bed chamber, while the right door opened into his private bathroom. In front of the desk were two red leather armchairs of the same design as the couches and in the left one sat Captain Reed Branson.

"Please join us Mr. Sumner" Joshua Cook motioned his hand towards the empty seat.

Jack wished he brought a packed lunch and a water bottle with him as he began the long walk across the room to the comfy chair.

"What's all this about Cap'n Branson?" Jack asked.

"This could be the start of a new life for us Jack" Reed replied.

"You see Mr. Sumner, in recent times there have been some rather drastic changes in our little community brought on by your arrival" Cook began.

"You mean catching the Professor?" Jack wondered.

"For a start, but there has also been an increase in the population of the district consisting of the crew of your ship, and I understand the people of El Centro have managed to capture a party of raiders recently as well" the Colonel continued.

"I'm not sure where you're going with this" Jack admitted.

"If I may Colonel?" Reed checked and got the nod from Cook "As you know, this bunker and its operation are vital to the survival of this area; and it is up to the Colonel to keep the peace and make sure all resources and supplies kept safe down here."

"Well put Mr. Branson; it has come to my attention that you were once in our countries navy, so you know the importance of keeping order and not letting anarchy gain a foothold. To this end, I thought it would be advantages to meet you to see if you would be suitable to become part of my group of peacekeepers and to ask if you were interested."

Jack looked at the Colonel with suspicion before glancing back at Reed.

"I assume you know there was just another meteor strike north of here" Jack noted.

"Yes we felt the impact down here" Reed nodded "I was worried about the ship and its crew until I found out it had landed north of here."

Jack wanted to ask how they knew where it had struck but there were more important things to cover first.

"There was a double shockwave from an air explosion as well as a ground strike and a fireball, the likes of which I'd never seen or felt before. It was obvious to everyone that the destruction would be worse up north but when some of the people from El Centro wanted to take some of the supplies back with them, they were stopped at gunpoint and forced to leave every last box here" Jack said with disgust.

Joshua Cook rose from his chair and slowly began to pace around to the front of his desk.

"I know that may seem heartless Mr. Sumner but you have to understand why my men would have acted this way. Whenever there is a disaster like this, you can be sure there will be panic, looting and general disorder for days, weeks or even months into the future. By holding all the supplies here under armed protection, we can be sure that there will be no losses due to unfair hoarding practices, and then it will not only be the strong who have the chance to survive, but everyone will have an equal share."

"You see Jack" Reed smiled reassuringly "It all makes perfect sense when you think about it; just because they have all the food here doesn't mean they are not willing to share some of it."

"Some of it?" Jack snapped "The people outside grew it all and it belongs to them. It's the people out there who are taking all the risks by living under exposed skies while this Colonel and his crew live in relative safety and luxury. When was the last time you had to see off armed raiders with only a few bullets MISTER Cook?"

"You are way out of line Jack" Reed barked "If it wasn't for the Colonel and the organisation he's running, that settlement out there wouldn't have a hope of surviving in the long term; and todays meteor strike is proof of that!"

"I always knew you were nothing more than a second rate dictator" Jack said to Reed with distain "It makes me sorry to think I ever stuck up for you when the crew complained to me about your behaviour. I told 'em we needed a strong Captain to keep us on a solid course, but you made it really difficult with your elitist ways."

"That's enough Jack" Reed snorted as he stood up to face his former shipmate.

"Yes it is enough" Jack agreed "I'm leaving now and if I can get a crew together, I'm taking the One and All; you can just stay here and play second fiddle to your new fuehrer for all I care."

Jack spun around and fell flat on his face after receiving a solid roundhouse to the jaw from his former captain. Before he could recover from the blow, Reed wrenched Jack back onto his feet by the collar and grabbed the back o his belt. He then quickly marched his old friend to the door and threw him into the outer office, much to the surprise of the waiting guards.

"Do me a favour" Reed asked them "Can you please take this lump of trash back to the surface and throw him out?"

One of the guards looked inside the door to check with the Colonel, who just leaned back into his chair and nodded in agreement.

"And don't rough him up" Reed added "I owe him that much for the years of reasonable service he gave the ship."

"Firm but merciful" Cook nodded as Reed closed the door once again.

"I can't apologise enough sir" Reed said nervously "I never imagined he would react the way he did, or say those horrible things."

"Do you think he may have a point about the way I run things here?" Cook tested for discontent.

"I highly doubt it Sir; I've seen the way those fools outside do things and I think Jack is dead wrong. Without the firm hand of a system like this, nobody could hope to survive in the world we have today."

"Precisely" Cook grinned "I'm sorry to say you can't keep the rank of captain because you're so new here, but in time you should work your way up the if you follow orders and keep your nose clean."

"Thank you Colonel" Reed smiled at the words Cook had chosen.

Walking to the door, Joshua Cook ordered one of his lower subordinates to show Reed to his billet beyond the final checkpoint.

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by your new living conditions Mr. Branson" Cook smirked "Get yourself settled in and you can start on a training patrol tomorrow morning."

"Yes Sir" Reed saluted and followed his guide back out into the main complex.

* * *

The sun was low in the sky by the time Jack Sumner managed to reach the top of the main entrance tunnel. Finding a small boulder near the canyon wall, he sat and rested for a few minutes to catch his breath before moving on. It would be a very long walk down the hill and he was unsure how far he would have to go before he met up with anybody who could help him. Hopefully the men at the main gate will allow him to have a drink of water before he had to leave the area because those who threw Jack out of the bunker were so angry, they wouldn't even let him get his gear sack from under the bed on his way out.

As his mind cleared, the memories of Jacks meeting with Reed and the Colonel flooded back and he chuckled quietly to himself. The last minute addition of the recent meteor strike had thrown their plans for a curve, but Reed had managed to ad lib nicely. Even though Jack had been able to soften the blow of Reeds punch by turning in the same direction of the travelling fist, his jaw muscles still felt quite stiff. It was worth the pain though because Cook would surely have noticed if Reed had pulled his punch and besides, now they had a man on the inside.

Feeling rested at last, Jack stood up, brushed off some dust and began to walk west while whistling a cheerful little tune.

* * *

 **Not long till December and I haven't started this year's Snoggletog story yet, even though most of it is in my head. I better get onto it before I start hearing the sound of bells jingling on the reigns of a sleigh drawn by eight tiny Gronckles.**


	74. Chapter 74

**Sorry this one's a day late, I've been working on Snoggletog 2017. Things progressing on this story too, so should keep close to schedule. Anyway thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy this next bit :)**

* * *

Chapter 74

Private Investigations

Luis Dias glanced out of the cupola window as the Space Exploration Vehicle slowly approached the side of the MTV. During the last thirty six hours Abigail and Calla had not only been working on some of the asteroid processors, but had also fitted out two of the empty bus sized transport canisters that once contained the various machines. Thanks to their efforts, 16 Psyche now had two living quarters attached to its growing network of tunnels and tubes.

It had taken Calla a while to get used to the greatly reduced gravity on the asteroid but in the end she found it quite liberating. On the MTV she only had full gravity in the rotating ring section of micro gravity in the ships main body but on 16 Psyche, she could carefully walk inside the pressurised sections and still lift massive machines as if they were made of Styrofoam.

"Drifter to Star Cruiser; Auto Dock Computer engaged" Abigail voice noted.

The screen in front of him confirmed his daughters report, but some of the other things she said had him wondering. Fortunately for Luis, Blue was not far away for him to ask.

"Blue, what is this Star Cruiser your sister is talking about?" he asked as the Rockhopper Penguin of Confusion did a number on his peace of mind.

"I thought that might surprise you Dad" Blue grinned "Calla thought the name Mars Transfer Vehicle was too boring so she renamed it the Star Cruiser.

"And the SEV is now the Drifter?" Luis asked.

"Calla called it the Star Drifter but Abby thought that sounded silly; I think they're still in disagreement about it."

"And by disagreement you mean..." Luis checked

"Fighting, yes" Blue nodded.

The reality of the argument became obvious a few minutes later when the small ship finally docked to the former MTV.

"I still don't know why you can't accept the fact that it's called the SEV" Abigail could be heard to say as the airlock door opened.

"And what does that mean again?" Calla asked.

"Space Exploration Vehicle; why can't you remember it?"

"I can't remember it because it's so dull, I almost fall into a coma every time I hear it" Calla said under the influence of the Toucan of Defiance.

"I'm willing to go with Drifter, so why can't you be satisfied?" Abigail sniffed.

"Because Star Drifter is cool but Drifter alone makes it sound like my lazy brother."

Abigail perked up when she heard this latest piece of news.

"You have a brother? How old is he? Is he cute?"

"Yes, eighteen and no I don't think so" Calla replied "You're too late anyway because he's already seeing someone; a friend of mine named Doom."

"Doom?" Abigail's eyes widened "Can't you Earth people give anything or anyone a proper name?"

* * *

Just when it seemed things could not get any worse on Mars, the general moral had plummeted to an all time new low, which was about fifteen points below the previous all time low. Rumours about the Deep Council allegedly trying to poison the crew of the MTV were moving around the base faster than anyone could have imagined. Surprisingly though, of all the people affected by the latest developments, the one most frightened about his immediate future was Talon Descott. Late the next evening, he found himself hurriedly sneaking through the corridors of the northern residential section hoping desperately that him mother would not call the Security Office to find out why her son had not returned home after his shift. With much relief, he finally reached his destination unchallenged and pressed the door chime.

"What are you doing here?" April asked "I thought your mother didn't want you to be my bodyguard anymore."

"Here; take this" Talon pushed his communicator into April's hands.

"Why would I want..?"

"Download the recording of Professor Topolski's home; and hurry" he insisted before disappearing back down the corridor.

"What was that all about?" Ruth asked as she sipped her drink.

"I don't know" April said truthfully "Do you know how to download a file from one of these things?"

"I reckon I could have a go" Ruth smiled as she arose.

"Oh for heaven's sake mother' give it to me" Saffron insisted as she strode into the room.

"What are you doing out of bed young lady?" April said sternly.

"I heard the door and didn't want to miss anything" Saffron admitted.

April started to object, but soon stopped when she saw how quickly the young girl managed to pair her mother's tablet with the communicator and begin the download.

"Talon told you to hurry so I thought I'd better not let you two slugs stare at the screen wondering which button to press for the next twenty minutes."

"Saffron Hikaru Dias; you apologise for that remark right now!" April chastised her daughter.

Ruth smiled and nodded "Why April? You know she's right."

"Yeah but she didn't have to be so blunt about it" April pouted.

"Right; let's see what's on this thing" Saffron gave an evil grin as she scrolled through the downloaded files.

"Oh no you don't!"

April grabbed Saffron firmly by the shoulders and lifted her out of the chair and as the young girl protested, the concerned mother marched her daughter back to her bedroom.

"After all I've done for you..." Saffron barked.

"Yes thank you; I'm very grateful" April declared in a deadpan voice before half throwing Saffron into her room "Now go to bed and don't come out till morning."

"Why so rough?" Ruth questioned when April returned.

"I don't know what's on Talon's recording yet and I don't want Saffy to see what we saw."

"Was it that bad?" Ruth asked.

April closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she remembered what greeted her when Talon had opened Topolski's door

"You may not want to see this" April warned.

Ruth could see the pain in her friend's eyes and knew April was not coping very well. She smiled reassuringly and placed her hand lightly on April's.

"We'll look together" she nodded.

When April check the screen in front of her, she could see Saffron had already found a file labelled Topolski/Klein and she realised if she had been any slower ejecting her daughter from the room, it may have been too late.

"You ready?" April asked.

"No... but go ahead anyway" Ruth replied.

The video started very roughly as Talon positioned the camera at a point on Topolski's left wall. When it had steadied, the image moved slowly to the right in an establishing shot of the entire room.

"Oh good lord!" Ruth gasped when the bodies of the two men came into view.

There were stains on the floor and couch from the foam that had run from their noses and mouths and the disturbing distorted looks on their faces told the story of a very unpleasant death.

"Saffron must never see this" April insisted.

"No argument from me" Ruth agreed.

The women watched intently as the camera was moved closer to certain details in the room like the floor around the bodies, the couches and the coffee table between them. When Talon had finished with the close-ups he had gone to several other points in the room taken more pan shots from different angles. It was partway through the second of these when the image began to jump before turning to static.

"Odd place for him to stop recording" Ruth noted.

"I was just outside the door, but I remember more Security Officers arriving; he must have stopped because of them."

"Did you notice anything odd or out of the ordinary watching the recording?" Ruth asked.

"I must admit I wasn't concentrating on the details; maybe we should run through it again."

"This is going to haunt me tonight" Ruth admitted as she pressed the replay button.

* * *

"Main engines online; electrical input twenty percent and rising" Abigail reported.

Luis Dias followed Marshal Baron's order to return as quickly as he could, but first he made sure he and his young companions had set everything in motion for Sarah Spencer and the people of Earth. While the robots had done most of the work of course, the crew of the MTV had set up a substantial base using the leftover supply pods and with the help of the SEV.

"You mean the Star Drifter" Calla corrected.

Hey; I'm the author and I'll call it what want. Besides I took the name straight from the NASA web site.

"Star Drifter is cooler" she insisted "You should have called it something like that right from the start."

I can change characters names as well you know; and it's not too late for me to rewrite this story.

"You wouldn't... would you?"

I had a grandfather named Gerwin and I put his name in the story, so how would you like to be named Mavis after my grandmother?

"I can't believe you're going to use you power to force me how to think" Calla sniffed.

These are not the droids you're looking for.

"Huh?"

Never mind Calla; you can call the ships whatever you want but don't tell me what to write.

"Well... alright" she agreed reluctantly before reaching out to close the small hatch in the fourth wall.

And if you're feeling angry about this, don't you dare take it out on Blue!

"Yeah yeah, I know he's your favourite" Calla hissed little realising Blue wasn't my favourite character; she was.

Now then... where was I? Oh yes; I remember now. The Star Cruiser, I mean MTV, pulled slowly away from the massive asteroid and recommenced its long trip to Mars, leaving behind a swarm of automated machines to continue their various tasks.

* * *

At Aprils request Jarred and Ruth Kinderman arrived at her front door straight after breakfast the next morning. Now they had fulfilled her wish, all that remained was for them to discover why they were there so early.

"Saffy asked to see the recording we downloaded last night so naturally I told her no and warned her never to ask again" April explained "I described what was we'd seen to her, without the horrific details of course, and when I told her about the rough static at the end, Saffy realised something we'd missed."

"Ruth told me about the recording, but didn't mention the end of it" Jarred admitted.

"Saffy said it should have finished at the point where Talon stopped recording and suggested we should do another download to see if we could get hold of the rest of the file. But when she connected the communicator to my computer, it had been totally wiped."

"What do you mean wiped?" Ruth asked.

"There was absolutely nothing on it; all files deleted" April informed them.

"Just the video recordings?" Jared checked.

"You're not listening" April insisted "When I say everything, I mean video, voice notes, call logs, personal information and applications; Talon's communicator had been totally re-formatted."

"Where is it?" Jarred asked.

April pointed to her work desk so Jarred walked over to check it out.

"Have you had a chance to ask Talon about it?" Ruth wondered.

"I tried to contact him last night and again this morning but I haven't been able to find him; and of course I can't just call his communicator."

"Maybe we should ask at the Security Office" Ruth offered.

"Good idea" April agreed and called out to Jarred."

"I'm keeping Saffron home today" she said "Can I leave you to look after her?"

"Sure thing" Jarred replied as he removed the back cover of the communicator.

"Thanks... and make sure she does NOT see that recording."

"No problem."

April slipped on a jacket and picked up her computer tablet before following Ruth out the door. It took them fifteen minutes to get to the centre of the base where the new Mars Security Force was located, between the main control centre and Central Administration, but their visit did not last long. It only took her a few minutes to find out Talon Descott was no longer in Mars Base One.

"I WANT TO SEE BARON; RIGHT NOW!" April stated forcefully as she strode into the administration section.

"Marshal Baron is currently in a meeting with the Deep Council Investigation Team" the receptionist reported.

"Good" April gave an evil grin "I want to talk to them too."

"Wait; you can't go..." but April and Ruth had already gone.

Much to April surprise, the three people she expected to find inside Baron's office were actually four with Gretel Descott also present.

"Oh... April" Marshal looked up "It's a pleasure to see you out and about once more."

"Stow the chit-chat Marshal; why have you sent Talon to Base Two?" she asked before turning to Gretel "Or was this all your doing?"

"For heaven's sake Dias" Gretel Descott sighed "Why would you think Base One would be the only site with security officers?"

"Talon knows a lot about what happened with the three recent deaths so we need him here for..." April paused as her eyes widened "That's it... you needed to get rid of him so he couldn't tell what he knows."

"What does he know?" Gretel asked.

"IF I KNEW THAT, I WOULDN'T NEED TALON BACK HERE!" April shouted.

"It sounds to me like you are grasping at straws" Gretel sniffed.

"I may not know what it is, but I'm sure he knows something about the murder of Leonard Topolski and Florian Klein" April noted.

"For someone who is so against the Deep Council, I'm surprised you are so concerned about the deaths of two of its members" Gretel smirked "And besides, the initial report from the Security Office says it was almost certainly suicide."

"Well almost certainly is not good enough for me" April hissed.

"I wouldn't push it if I were you April" Marshal added "because if it wasn't suicide, then one of them murdered the other before killing himself. Do you really want to tarnish the reputations of these men who were once your good friends?"

"I want to find out the truth Marshal; something that has been sadly lacking around here."

"We already know the truth" Gretel insisted "It's not my fault you can't seem to accept it?"

April was careful not to mention the communicator but knew she had to keep pushing until she got her way.

"Marshal... when did Talon leave the base?" she asked calmly.

"Early this morning; on a transport with three other officers to establish the Base Two Security Team."

"Then they can't have gotten very far yet, so you can call them back" April insisted.

"Mrs. Dias you have resigned from the probe into the Deep Council so you have no right to make such demands anymore" Gretel Descott said plainly.

"Maybe she doesn't" Victor Kittredge stood up "but Sierra and I do."

"I think I'd like to talk with him" Sierra Corbin agreed.

"Well I'm the new head of this investigation so I will decide which direction we will go" Gretel insisted.

"W-wait a minute..." April's eyes widened "You're my replacement in the Deep Council Investigation?"

"Someone had to step up when you quit" Gretel sneered.

"Seriously Marshal; how can you have a probe into the Deep Council headed up by a member of the Deep Council?" April huffed.

Everyones eyes quickly turned to look at a very guilty Gretel Descott.

"Wha... I... YOU HAVE NO PROOF OF THAT!" she protested.

"But you don't deny it" Sierra noted.

"Ah... I... of COURSE I DENY IT!" Gretel came to her senses.

"Exactly how did this happen Marshal?" April asked suspiciously.

"You see I needed someone to replace you and..."

"And Gretel told you to appoint her" April finished his sentence.

"Well... actually yes."

"This is all falling into place" April began to pace "An unknown member of Deep Council has something put on the supply ship sent to the Orbit Station and Marshal knew about it."

"What makes you think...?" Marshal began.

"I was there Marshal and I saw the way you reacted when Luis mentioned the supplies; and I also saw the panic in your eyes when the medic got scared and ran. I believe there was something on the Supply Ship to make the MTV crew ill, giving you a reason to ban any further new arrivals. But when that clever little girl from Earth saw through your plan, it all began to fall apart; and when Florian openly said he would break his silence, the Deep Council decided he and Leonard had to die in order to keep them quiet."

"N-now you're just making up stories" Gretel Descott replied "You've got no proof about any of it."

"The proof is currently sitting in a transport headed for Base Two" April insisted.

Sierra Corbin shook her head as she pondered what she had been hearing

"Sorry April but I have to ask; what makes you so sure Talon Descott knows something we don't?" she asked her good friend.

"Late last night Talon came to my home and gave me his Security Team communicator" April admitted "He told me to download a video file of Leonard's home taken when we discovered him and Florian. Something happened and the files were wiped, leaving me with only a partial copy. This is why I want Talon to return; so he can tell us what was on the rest of the recording."

"But we have the full recording" Marshal revealed "Talon submitted a copy to his superiors in the Security Office during their investigation. It was a vital piece of evidence that pointed to a probable double suicide."

April and Ruth glanced at each other in confusion; what Marshal said just didn't make sense.

"You've seen it?" April asked.

"Yes; as Base Leader I was called in to receive a briefing from the security team that investigated the incident and I was shown all relevant evidence."

"I want to see it" April insisted.

"I don't know" Marshal pondered "It is very disturbing."

"I was there when it happened Marshal" April stated "And we've already seen most of the recording."

Victor Kittredge glanced over at Sierra Corbin, who nodded in reply.

"We want to see it too" he stated "It could have an important bearing on our investigation."

Marshal looked worriedly at Gretel Descott who just threw up her arms in resignation.

"Fine; if you ghouls want to see it, who am I to stop you?" she sighed.

"Indeed" April agreed "And it makes me wonder why Marshal felt he had to check with you first if you're not a member of the Deep Council."

"You are really starting to annoy me" Gretel said through clenched teeth.

"I thought I'd been annoying you for years" April replied with a smile.

* * *

 **Reading back over this chapter, I probably could have moved events along much faster, but I really wanted to make the characters work and not just have the answers drop into their laps easily. Thanks again for reading and I'll be back soon.**


	75. Chapter 75

**Your assumptions are spot on Vin. April is obviously very annoyed at the ongoing overt influence of the Deep Council. I'm sure things will change soon but I'm still contemplating three different endings to the story so even I don't know for sure yet.**

 **Let's see where it goes eh?**

* * *

Chapter 75

The Path To Where?

The three quarter moon shone brightly on the road, helping Jack Sumner to find his way back to El Centro. Even though he would occasionally stumble, it was much easier for him to walk in the dark than it would be to cope with the hot sun. The evening breeze came from the north and it carried the smell of smouldering wood. It also brought with it a fine black ash, aggravating Jacks eyes and lungs. He had only completed about one third of his journey when the headlights of an approaching pickup truck appeared in the distance, filling his heart with a sense of genuine relief. The truck carried Cid and his daughter Haley, and they were both surprised to see him.

"What the hell are you doing out here at night?" Cid asked as Jack gulped down a flask of water.

"Walking and getting cold" Jack smiled "Reeds little plan worked too well and I managed to get myself ejected from the bunker in only a few hours."

"Well that's one piece of good news in an otherwise disappointing day. Haley and I are just on our way to give the initial damage report to the Colonel. You can come with us but we'd better hide you in the back when we get there."

"Won't I get found when they bring out the first of the supplies?" Jack asked with concern.

To his surprise, Cid and Haley just laughed ever so slightly.

"This is just the first step" Haley said as they all climbed into the truck.

"Tomorrow morning we'll take the injured up to the bunker where they can rest and receive better medical care. Then some of the people currently working inside will leave early to make room for them and they'll bring the first of the released supplies back to us" Cid informed Jack.

"And then the rebuild can begin" Haley added "But there has never been a disaster as big as this one in my lifetime so I have no idea how long it will take to recover."

"We should have food production in full swing in six months" Cid informed her "I just hope the supplies in the bunker last the distance."

"There may be an alternative to starting again here" Jack hinted "but we'll talk about that when we get back to El Centro."

* * *

Calla looked back with fascination as the asteroid 16 Psyche slowly became nothing more than a tiny point of light in the distance. The true vastness of space was made perfectly clear to her when she realised she could no longer tell which white dot was the massive chunk of metal she had just left, and which ones where more distant stars in her field of vision. Rather than keep staring back at her departure point, Calla decided to look forward by returning to a nearby computer terminal where she had been studying information about the autonomous machines the MTV crew had left behind.

"Star Cruiser" Calla corrected.

Don't start with that again... Mavis.

"I'll be good" she smiled weakly.

"Who you talking to?" Blue asked as he floated back from the flight controls in the Orion capsule.

"The split personality of a psychotic hack" she replied.

"Oh... okay" Blue wisely decided it would be best not to pursue the subject anymore.

"Where you headed off to now?" Calla asked.

"Dad's sending a report back to Earth with a full rundown of what we got done on 16 Psyche. I thought I'd write a few notes to Sarah and the others and attach them to the file before he sends it."

"Hmm... I should probably do the same" Calla thought "But before you go, I was looking at this maintenance file on the machines your sister and I worked on."

"Yeah she said the extra pair of hands was a big help" Blue noted.

"Good of her to say so, but I have to admit I could hardly keep up with what she wanted me to do."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much" Blue smiled "Abby and I grew up with those things; I was helping to build them back at the Railgun and she was using and maintaining them over on Mars. Truth be told, I'm really impressed by the way you've kept up."

"Ah; it's good to see you've learnt how much I like to be praised" Calla grinned "But I was wondering if you could explain something to me."

"Whatcha got?" Blue asked.

"It's these converters that change the current from the solar collectors. It may be a silly question, but what is the difference between alternating current and direct current?"

"One alternates and the other one doesn't" Blue explained.

Blue thought what he'd said had showed a fair amount of wit, but it still earned him a playful elbow to the gut.

* * *

It was well after midnight before the pickup truck arrived back in El Centro. Everyone was tired but Cid was particularly looking forward to resting his head, having just driven all the way to the bunker and back. Unfortunately there would be no sleep yet because he and his passengers arrived back to find a small group of discontented people surrounding the Bull Ant, making the One and All crew members on board very nervous. The Rockhopper Penguin of Confusion flew overhead, landed in front of Cid's feet, staring menacingly at everyone in front of him.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Cid shouted as he strode over towards the crowd.

"These people can't be trusted Cid" a mean looking man with a sledge hammer barked "You didn't see what went on last week in the bunker. That Captain Branson kept trying to tell us what to do and he ended up siding with the guards against us."

"Of course he did, that was the plan" Cid shrugged "Hasn't Shifty told you all about it yet?"

"Shifty has gone home to check on the damage to his farm; he didn't tell us anything."

"When I get my hands on that kid... it was all a con you idiots" Cid steamed "Captain Branson wanted to find what was going on in the bunker and hopefully what had happened to his friends. The plan was for him to be augmentative with us while being agreeable with the guard's in the hope they would recruit him; and it worked. I can't be the only one here who is more than a little curious about what lies beyond the refineries in there."

"Why didn't you tell us what you were doing?" Mr. Sledgehammer barked.

"Look... I'm sure most of you could have gone along with the ruse without any trouble, but because it would only take one person to give the game away, we decided to keep it to ourselves and not tell anyone else until Reed was safely inside" Cid explained.

"I even took a fist to the jaw to help convince the Colonel" Jack added.

"That's all well and good, but how do you explain this?" a woman from the crowd called out, walked up and gave Cid a small familiar looking package.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"It came from them" she pointed at the defenders of the Bull Ant.

Jack wasn't sure what the problem was but everyone looked more than a little upset.

"We gave them some of our food stocks" a worried voice called out from the Bull Ant "We thought it was the right thing to do but now they're really upset."

"I hope you can explain this" Cid said and he did not look happy.

"It's a freeze dried food pack" Jack explained "The may not look very appetising but they really are quite tasty when you're half starved."

"I know what it is, they come from the bunker; we take in fresh food, it cooked, processed and turned into these things for long term storage. Because they can last for many years, it's all we'll have to eat until we can get the crops going again. The real question is how did you get it out of the bunker?"

"Our food packs didn't come from the bunker" Jack tried to explain.

"Then where did they come from?" Cid asked firmly.

Jack knew Professor Adisa did not want all the details about the Railgun in Sumatra to become common knowledge when they had first arrived, but he was sure the time had come to confide in these people; so he told Cid about Calla and her accidental discovery. He went on to tell him about the young man who had spent his entire life underground and of Doctor Sarah Spencer the new head of the Railgun Complex, who had provided Captain Branson with the same type of food packs as would be send into orbit inside large capsules, along with electronic and machinery parts for the Mars colony.

He told them about the Oil Tanker that held no oil, but was instead was used as a method of smuggling equipment across the world without being found by the Earth First Alliance. He then finished off with Professor Adisa's desire to try and track down the truth about who had locked his people up for so long, while Sarah Spencer organised a new plan to build human colonies in the Asteroid Belt, thus saving more people from the inevitable destruction of Earth; whether it came in one year's time, or a hundred.

"Why did you keep all this a secret from us?" Cid asked when Jack was done.

"If word spread too far about the Railgun still being operational, the EFA could hear about it and try to stop them. Professor Adisa and Doctor Spencer were quite adamant that we should be very careful who we talk to. If I didn't feel I could trust you now, I would not have told you any of this. I was serving on an aircraft carrier fifteen years ago when the Professor and some of his team arrived by helicopter to be transferred onto cargo planes for their trip to the Railgun Complex, and we all considered them to be heroes. Risking their lives against the EFA, helping to save humanity through the Mars Project, and all the time knowing they would be staying behind with the rest of us to die if the big one hit. I can tell you this for sure; Captain Branson and I were mightily pissed when you called Professor Adisa an EFA spy and took him away, but I can accept now it was all just a mistake thanks to that list you got from whoever is running things in that bunker."

"If we went to this Railgun Complex... is there any chance we could get off this doomed planet too?" someone in the crowd asked.

"I honestly don't know but I'll tell you something for nothing; I wouldn't even consider taking any of you to see Doctor Spencer unless I was sure you wouldn't cause any trouble for her. But if you're willing to take your chances with the rest of us while helping her to make the whole thing work... well... we'll see how we go."

A murmur ran around the group as everyone considered this new information.

"Listen up" Jack continued "When we came across the Railgun Complex, we were not just a single ship; we were a small flotilla of refugees. The people we met in Sumatra gave us all the help we could ask for. Adisa and Spencer didn't try and make deals, they just gave us food and a safe place to stay, and then asked for our help later. It was perfectly clear to us that we were under no obligation and although I had my doubts about Doctor Spencers ability to pull off her Asteroid Belt plan, in a very short time I grew to trust her integrity and that is why the Captain and I agreed to bring the Professor half way across the world just to satisfy his curiosity."

Some people began to discuss their possible future in small groups while others got right to the point.

"How many people can you ship carry?" one asked.

"The One and All could only take a few more, but there is another ship sitting half out the water in San Diego Harbour. If we could get it off the beach, refloat it and fix the rudder, you never know what we may be able to do."

Jacks revelation set everyone talking loudly for a few minutes until Cid managed to get their attention once again.

"HEY!" he cried out "Two very important things you're all going to have to remember: firstly you have to be very sure not to let anyone in the bunker know any of this, and secondly we still have to get the crops re-planted."

"But why rebuild if we can leave instead?" someone noted.

"You don't know for sure if we're going to leave; I know you're all excited about this but we haven't got that raider ship refloated yet, and we have to make the bunker guards think everything is still normal out here. I don't know what they'd do if they found out about what we've been discussing here tonight."

Cid was right when he said everyone was excited. A week ago most of them would not have considered leaving their home for something as uncertain as a Railgun in Sumatra, but after the devastation they had all just gone through, very few even thought about the possibility of staying behind. There was a very big reality check though when Jack told them all what to expect should they succeed in making it to the Railgun.

"Don't expect to arrive in Sumatra one day and leave Earth the next. When we left to come here they had just started extending the Railgun and building the machines needed to work in space. The people I left behind were training, building, farming, and doing all kinds of laborious tasks in preparation with no real idea when, or even if it would happen."

"Then why did they want to get involved?" Haley asked.

"I don't know how big your bunker is here, but the underground complex in Sumatra is huge. We drove around inside and I'm sure I only saw a small part of it. For all intents and purposes, it was a better home than anything we'd seen before."

"So we could all live inside?" Cid wondered.

"Most of you could; they even had massive vertical farms that would knock your socks off. Compared to limping across the ocean looking for somewhere safe we knew did not really exist, working for Doctor Spencer was a good deal; a very good deal indeed."

With another near disaster averted, the people of El Centro dispersed to find somewhere to spend the night. Almost half the buildings had been rendered unsafe by the recent meteor strike and several had even been totally destroyed by the fires that had followed. With Jacks permission, Haley and Cid followed the aging sailor back inside the railway car atop the Bull Ant tracks.

"Ah Mr. Sumner, welcome back and... and warm greetings to your friends too" a very odd little man greeted them.

"Hello DeGroot" Jack replied "Have you been in here all this time?"

"M-most of it sir... but not when the meteor came, oh no" DeGroot shook his head "Too high... yes definitely too high up here so I took shelter underneath one of the tank tracks."

"The ol' self preservation instincts took over huh?"

"Oh yes sir and it was just as well because the side of the vehicle facing north took quite a bit of damage. But these old railway carriages were built strong... yes... very strong indeed."

Jack climbed back down to the ground and walked to the other side of the carriage and found DeGroot was right about the damage. The side of the railcar looked like it had been set upon by an automatic rock thrower. There were even a few pieces of metal embedded in the stainless steel.

Cid gasped when he saw what had happened but was surprised the carriage had held up so well. Just then a small light bulb lit up the inside of his head.

"Hey Jack... I know this may be asking a lot, but could we borrow this thing for a few days? Maybe even a week or two... or three at the most."

"What have you got in mind?" Jack asked.

"While you were inside the bunker today, we did a quick search of the district. We found a lot of people in a pretty bad way and some who didn't make it; far too many for my liking. Tomorrow I was planning to send out a few trucks to do a more detailed search for survivors but with the carrying capacity of this unit, plus that remote controlled flying camera you used back on the west road, we could keep all the trucks here where they're needed."

Jack thought about what he and Reed had planned for the near future and soon came to the conclusion that it was a request he could easily grant.

"It could take weeks, or even months before we hear any news from Cap'n Branson, and I'm sure he would agree to your request."

"You people are either really helpful, or you're playing a really long con game that'll bite me in the butt when I least expect it" Cid nodded.

"Nice to know we've got you worried" Jack grinned "Now let's get some sleep so I can continue with my nefarious plan in the morning."

"Is he joking dad?" Haley asked with concern.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow" Cid replied as he looked for comfortable looking seat to stretch out on.

* * *

 **Okay... here comes the bad news.**

 **This will be the last post for December. I've had some minor health issues and work has gone nuts in the Christmas rush too (everyone wants a mini bus). Still writing on most days so I'm planning to finish the story and then post the last of it in January.**

 **Look out for the 2017 Snoggletog story; I think it will be called "How to upset a Shield Maiden."**

 **Bye for now, Marty.**


	76. Chapter 76

**Happy New Year everyone! Sorry I took so long to get back, I even considered waiting another two weeks and see if I could finish the story but the term Snowballs Chance in Hell came to mind.**

* * *

Chapter 76

Strange Revelations

April and the small group with her, made their way into the Security Office to see Talon's recording, but convincing the officers on duty to permit the showing of evidence took a little arguing and several calls to superiors; none of whom were very happy.

"So you're telling me the people wishing to see the recording include Barron and Descott?" the Security Head's voice came from his officer's communicator.

"Yes sir; along with April Dias, Victor Kit..."

"I don't care who else is there" the Security Head barked. "If the leader of the Mars Citizens Council and the Head of the Deep Council Investigation want to review what we've got, just log it and show it to them; understood?"

"Understood sir" the officer replied.

Looking rather embarrassed, he pocketed his communicator and turned to Marshal Barron.

"Sorry about that sir but we don't yet have all the proper Security Office procedures worked out yet."

"We understand Officer but if we could please get on with it?"

"Certainly; if you would all like to come this way."

The young man led them into a briefing room and asked everyone to take a seat. He then accessed the appropriate file on a computer at the head of the room, and the video recording soon began to play on a large screen.

"Oh... uh..." Victor winced as the gruesome image continued.

Even though April and Ruth had already seen it several times before, experiencing the video blown up on a five meter screen was more confronting that they had expected. April even found herself looking away during the first part of the playback and only started to really pay attention when it approached the end point of her copy.

"Here we go" April noted "This is as far as we've seen so whatever it is must be coming up soon."

Everyone leaned further forward in their seats and stared intently at the screen. The image had already moved away from couches and coffee table where the bodies lay and was slowly moving around the right side of the room. April looked desperately for anything out of the ordinary but as the playback panned left passed the small kitchen bench top to the other side of the room, the only obvious thing was that Leonard had not yet cleaned up after breakfast. Eventually the sound of running people approaching could be heard in the background and the recording was shut off.

"We arrived in the room a few seconds later" the young officer noted "and that was when Talon left to take Mrs. Dias to the Medical Suite."

"I don't know about any of you, but I didn't see anything to suggest the Security Investigators conclusions were incorrect" Gretel Descott huffed.

"I don't understand" April wondered "Then why would Talon..."

Without letting her finish her thought, Victor Kittredge got up from his chair and strode to the front of the room.

"I think April has a good point" he stated "If there was nothing to see, then why would Talon Descott go to the trouble of getting his communicator to April late last night?"

"He did say I needed to download it as quickly as I could" April noted.

"Ah yes!" Ruth exclaimed "Maybe we should check to see if Jarred has found anything."

Before anyone could ask her what she was talking about, Ruth had pulled out her own communicator and called her husband.

"Hello?" he answered.

"I've got you on speaker here Honey; did you find anything interesting in Talon's communicator."

"We sure did" Saffron Dias called out excitedly.

"I hope you don't mind April but since Saffy was staying home today, I let her help me work on this thing."

"As long as you didn't let her see the recording" April noted.

"Oh it's definitely not in the communicator's memory anymore" Jarred stated "We found a tiny control chip attached to the back of the main circuit board hidden under the memory chip. My guess is someone was able to remotely access the communicator and wipe it."

There was a moment of stunned silence in the room as the gravity of Jarred's revelation sunk in, but it was soon broken by the sound of an excited young girl.

"We did good; didn't we Mom?"

"You did very good Saffy" she replied "I'm very proud of you and you shall have another double dessert tonight."

"Another?" Sierra wondered "What great deed did she do to get the last one?"

"Well... um..." April just couldn't find the right words.

"She punched my son in the face" Gretel Descott had no trouble finding the right words at all.

"Sorry I asked" Sierra smirked, clearly showing that she wasn't.

"I don't know about any of you, but I'm still bothered by all of this" Victor stated "It may just be a waste of time but I won't be satisfied until we can get Talon Descott back here and question him."

"Do you really want to keep going with this?" Marshal sighed.

"Oh just get them to turn the transport around and let's get this done with once and for all" Gretel huffed and stormed out.

Gretel's apparent co-operation stunned April and she hurried off after her foe.

"Before you go Gretel..." April called.

"What is it now?" the frustrated woman spun on her heel.

"Um... I was surprised to hear you're okay with Talon coming back for questioning."

"I'm not happy about it, but I know you'll never let this go until you've exhausted every last pathetic clue and suspicion in your tiny mind."

April let the insult go in order to check on something she felt was important.

"Gretel... was it you who sent him off to Base Two in the first place?"

This question threw Talon's mother into slight daze as she wondered why April would ask such a thing.

"No; but when the Head of Security told me Talon ad been reassigned there, I was very pleased. I thought it would be wonderful to have him well away from you're disruptive influence."

"Listen closely Gretel" April spoke quietly "I still suspect that you are a member of the Deep Council, but I'm also beginning to think the group is fracturing from inside."

"Is that how you're justifying your baseless murder theory?" Gretel sighed.

"Just be careful who you tell about Talon coming back" April warned "Something just doesn't feel right."

Gretel Descott pondered April's words before going back to see Marshal Baron once more; if April was right, then it would be better if no one knew what they were doing.

* * *

Reed Branson reached over to his bedside table to retrieve his watch; the luminous face informed him the time was 2:14 am.

"Good enough" he whispered to himself as he rose up and swung his legs around to the floor.

He was still surprised to have his own room in the small habitat he shared with two other guards. Considering the living conditions on the other side of the checkpoint, he would have been satisfied just to be in a smaller dorm room with a more comfortable bed. Reed was confident turning on the rooms light would not alert anyone, but he still dressed himself in the dark just to be on the safe side. When he was ready, Reed carefully opened his bedroom door and moved silently over to the main door with his shoes still in his hands. Once he had made it outside, he slipped them on and quickly tied the laces.

The lights in the corridor had been switched to night mode and gave only a small fraction of the illumination they would normally emit, but this suited Reeds purpose perfectly as he moved stealthily along from shadow to shadow. On his journey he looked inside room after room only to find the inside was pitch black until twenty minutes later, he opened a door leading to an amazing place.

When he first saw the trees and shrubs, Reed thought he had stepped outside but it soon became obvious that the stars overhead were merely projections on the high curved ceiling. The light in the massive room was a near perfect emulation of that provided by a full moon except for the six shadows he saw on the ground near every tree and pole around him. Reed moved slowly and quietly along the path and marvelled at the beauty, apparent even in the artificial moonlight. A feeling of distrust in what he was seeing arose, so he left the path and approached one of the nearby trees. After running his fingers over the trunk and lower branches he came to the conclusion that it was indeed a real tree, growing in real soil next to a lawn of real grass.

"Doesn't he realise that if he wants to have Peacocks running around the place, he's gonna have to expect them to call out occasionally? Peacocks are well known to be very loud birds."

The unexpected ornithological information came from two men wandering up the path towards the door. Reed stepped back into the trees shadow and waited for the men to pass by.

"Oh he doesn't mind them calling out, but not so late and not outside his bedroom window" the second man added.

"I just hate being ordered to round them up in the middle of the night and lock them in their cages, just to have him let them out again the next morning" the first lamented.

"Speaking of cages, we'd better check and make sure the Professor is still safely locked up in his."

Reed's ears pricked up at the mention of the Professor and so keeping his head low, he slipped out from behind the tree and followed the pair of peacock wranglers back to the exit. Fortunately the corridors were still empty aside from the two men who chatted with each other so freely, they probably would not have noticed if Reed had been walking along right behind them. After passing several doors, they eventually came to the one they sought, which they opened using a pass card.

"Dammit" Reed hissed to himself, realising he would be locked out when the door was shut.

The man who had just used the card held the door open for his colleague before stepping in himself. As soon as they were out of sight, Reed hurried out of the shadows and ran at the door while still trying to remain quiet. Fully aware of the pain to come, he thrust his hand in-between the door and its frame a split second before they met. It was not easy to remain silent as his fingers were crushed but Reed did his best to channel his agony into facial contortions rather than audible noise.

Slipping inside, the first things Reed noticed were the similarities between this massive room and the last one he'd been in. There were the stars, the trees and the paths, but then there were the differences because inside this room, there were buildings. Stone cottages lined the paved streets forming a small village that could only be described as quaint. This was the last thing Reed had expected to find but before he had the chance to totally wrap his head around what he was seeing, he noticed the men he followed turning a corner fifty odd meters to his right.

Treading softly, Reed gave chase once more till he reached the same corner, where he ducked down behind the brick pillar of a wrought iron fence. Peering to the left, he observed the men as they opened the third gate in the street, which gave an ear piercing squeak. Keeping low, he continued to follow until he was close enough to see them check the front door.

"Still secure" one noted before turning back.

Realising the two men would soon pass by him, Reed looked around franticly for somewhere he could hide. Just behind him was the gate leading to the front garden of the second house but chances were high it would make just as much noise as the third gate. Knowing his timing would have to be near to perfect, Reed stepped back and placed his hand on the gate handle, pushing it slowly down. He could just see the tops of the men's heads as they walked back down the path and when they reached out to open their gate, he pushed on his.

If they had been paying proper attention, they could have easily noticed the stereoscopic squeal as the gates opened and closed almost simultaneously.

"Now we know he's not sneaking around outside again, I say its coffee time."

"For you it's always coffee time" the second man noted.

Reed waited patiently until he heard the outer door slam shut, before he made his way back into the street and to the house next door. He had expected to find the front door locked, but he had not expected the padlocked iron gate that clearly was not originally part of the door frame.

"Ah Professor... you ol' troublemaker" Reed smiled.

It was a foregone conclusion that any other entrance would also be barred, so Reed walked down the side of the house to peruse the windows. Given his advanced age, the guards correctly assumed Linton Adisa would not be attempting to use the high set windows as a method of entrance and exit, but that would not stop the captain of the One and All having a go at it.

Climbing up would not be a problem as the sill was only shoulder high, but opening the window would present some problems. Breaking the glass may be the best course of action but Reed knew he had to do it in a way that could be explained away later. Several methods presented themselves to him in the form of a garden gnome, three potted plants and wind chime hanging from a two meter high, three legged metal pole.

"Why would there be a wind chime when there is no wind in here?" Reed asked himself.

As if to purposely make him appear to be a fool, the delicate sound of the chimes tinkled in the night.

"Mrowr."

Reed looked down to see a rather large cat had just rubbed its face on the base of the pole, causing it to wobble slightly.

"Look what you've done you naughty kitty" Reed grinned as he purposely tipped the pole towards the house.

The startled cat jumped up and ran off in fear as the top of the pole shattered the lower pane of glass.

"You're in trouble now puss" Reed noted as he reached in to unlock the window and slide it up.

As he pulled himself up onto the sill, a light came on in the passage upstairs and a nervous voice called out.

"Who's there? I'm warning you... I've got a gun."

"You haven't got gun" Reed disputed "Not only would you not be allowed to have one, but I doubt you'd know how to use it if you did."

"Captain Branson... is... is that you?"

"In the flesh" Reed answered "Or I should say, in the dark."

"My dear Captain how did you get in here?" Professor Adisa asked as he hurried down the stairs.

"I got a job as one of the guards here" he replied "We're gonna try and get you and Henry out."

"Easier said than done I'm afraid but I'm not in any hurry to leave yet; I'm finding out all kinds of things. Is there any way you could get a message outside?"

"We've got a few plans in place" Reed answered.

"When you say we... who do you mean?"

"The townsfolk who turned you over now know you're not EFA and it was a mistake to bring you here."

"Oh have I got things to tell you about the EFA" Linton shook his head "I need to get this information back to Sarah."

"I'll see about getting it to Jack Sumner and he'll do his best to deliver it."

"Good" the Professor nodded before putting on a bad French accent "Now listen very carefully; I will say zis only once."

* * *

 **I haven't quite caught up yet but I'm getting there (4 chapters done), so I'll try to get back to the once a week schedule again. Working on the climactic ending makes me wonder, will I be praised or lynched when people see it? Hmmm... we shall see.**


	77. Chapter 77

**Hello :)**

 **Much to my surprise, someone was upset about me referring to Astrid as Astrid the Fair but Frightening. I was accused of being sexist but as I said, I was surprised because many famous people in history were known as 'The Fair' including both men (Fredrick Duke of Austria (1314-1330) and Philip IV (1268–1314) King of France to name two) and also women like Helena of Hungary, the 11th century Queen of Croatia. I assume the angry person won't read the rest of the story so will probably never see this explanation, but I feel better for writing it.**

* * *

Chapter 77

Arrivals and Departures

Cid and Jack intended to take one of the trucks on a trip to San Diego early the next morning, so Jack got up just before sunrise to help load up some tool boxes. They planned to drop off some workers at the Raider Ship and then bring back some more supplies for their journey north. He also intended to pressgang two people from the One and All crew with some specialised skills. With the work almost done, Jack was pleased to see Cid's daughter Haley bring him a plate of breakfast.

"Just what I needed, thanks" he said as he took the plate.

"Since I was making some for Dad, it was no trouble to make a little more" Haley said as she sat down on the trucks tailgate.

"You should tell Cid to make his own breakfast" Jack tried to be humorous.

"Maybe, but I like to spoil him a bit since... well... since Mom died."

"Oh I'm sorry" Jack half froze "I didn't realise. If I may ask, how long has it been?"

"Only a few months" Haley explained "Someone was using a cutting torch on an old pickup truck frame inside the bunker... we think they must have hit the fuel line. We lost three people in the explosion."

"Including your mother" Jack nodded.

"Yes" Haley sighed "It's been hard, but it's not as if we're the only people to lose someone close to them these days."

"I'm sure she'd be proud of the way you take care of things in her absence."

"Thank you" Haley gave a shy smile and returned to the house.

As soon as Jack had finished eating, they started the west trip because Cid was still hoping to leave El Centro in the Bull Ant before lunch, and it also gave him the opportunity to clear up some niggling questions he had.

"Tell me Jack... why did you suddenly spring this whole 'chance to get off the planet' thing on us last night? Sorry but it all sounded conveniently suspicious to me since you were surrounded by a group of angry farmers at the time."

"It was something we'd planned to tell you all eventually but considering how our first meeting had gone, I agreed with Reed when he said we should wait until we gotten Henry and the Professor back again. None of us had any idea the appearance of the food packs would cause such a fuss and when I had to explain where they had come from, it seemed like the right time to tell you the rest."

"I'd like to think you were going to tell us eventually, but... it's just so hard to trust anyone" Cid shook his head.

"I'm sorry but you'll just have to take my word for it. Sarah Spencer told us she would work to save as many people as she could, but it would be a very slow process in the beginning. When Mars Colony was started, only four people took the first trip but when they had completed construction of the initial infrastructure, about twenty colonists were sent on the next trip. With more people to continue base construction, it wasn't long before they could start sending larger numbers until they had about two thousand on Mars. Sarah said it would be the same with her asteroid plan so she didn't want too many people breathing down her neck during the first phase."

"I suppose I can see her point" Cid admitted "Especially after what happened last night."

* * *

The wind blowing to the west carried with it the red Martian dust thrown up by the wheels of the huge transport vehicles as they slowly made their way to Base Two. The driver of the lead vehicle leaned back in his seat and dozed as the automated tracking system guided the futuristic wagon train across the surface of the hostile planet. With Base One several hours behind them, everyone on board knew they would not set eyes on another human until they finally succeeded in reaching their destination; and they were all wrong.

A small four seat buggy raced up the side of the vehicle train and turned across its path causing it to halt abruptly, and sending the driver lurching forward. Now wide awake, he quickly took in the scene in front of him while reaching for his radio mic but before he could depress the talk button, he noticed the crazy driver of the offending vehicle in front of him holding up a sign with big black letters reading "DON'T USE RADIO; STOP AND I WILL COME ABOARD."

"Uh... okay" he spoke into the mic before he realised what he'd done.

"Base One to Surface Rover; did you call?"

The driver looked at the mic and then to the man in the buggy who seemed to be having a severe panic attack.

"Err... sorry Base One, I just leant on the radio by mistake" he replied.

"Copy Rover; Base One out."

With a minor disaster averted for now, the buggy driver brought his vehicle around to the left side of the main transport and reversed it towards the airlock

"Do you want to tell me what is going on?" the transport driver asked when the airlock opened.

"I've been sent to pick up Talon Descott" the newcomer revealed "The Deep Council Investigation Team want to question him; but it must be kept secret for now so they can chase up some leads without interference. Needless to say, don't mention anything about my being here over the airwaves, until you hear from Marshal Baron or Gretel Descott."

The new leader of the Base Two Security Team did not feel comfortable about any of this, but the written orders the buggy driver brought with him were clear and so with no further delay, a quite nervous Talon Descott was soon on his way back to Base One at high speed. Not wanting to bring attention to himself and his important passenger, the buggy driver avoided the Main Vehicle Docking Station and proceeded straight to one of the Processing Robot Maintenance Hangers. Once the vehicle had passed through the airlock, Talon was instructed to put on a full body hazard suit and keep the reflective visor down. When he was ready, the buggy driver gave him an empty sample case to carry during the last leg of his trip. The two men then switched to an internal electric cargo mover and proceeded deep into the complex.

The last time Talon had been on a vehicle like this one, April had been driving with all fury, but this time the pace was quite sedate. A yellow light flashed to warn people about the non-existent hazardous material Talon supposedly carried, so everywhere they went, people just stepped aside to let the vehicle pass unimpeded. Eventually they arrive in a very quiet section of the base where Talon was taken to meet with those who had sent for him. As he removed the helmet from the hazard suit, everyone could see a certain amount of fear in the young man's eyes.

"Sorry to put you through all this, but we wanted to talk to you without anyone else finding out about it. Do you feel ready to answer some questions?" Victor Kittredge asked.

Talon looked I around the room before giving his answer.

"Before I say anything, I want to speak with my mother... alone."

"That's understandable" April nodded as she lead the others into an adjoining room.

"What's going on Mother?" Talon asked when the door had shut.

"I don't understand" Gretel responded.

"Why did you send me away in the first place? Was it to keep me quiet or... to keep me alive?"

"Keep you alive? What are you talking about?"

"You must have had a reason for sending me to Base Two" Talon said accusingly.

"Darling I didn't send you" Gretel replied "You were chosen to be a part of the Base Two contingent by the Head of Security and I thought it would be good for your career; what's wrong with that?"

"I'll tell you what I think is wrong; I noticed the other people sent with me, were the ones who had a different opinion about Mrs. Dias, to the one you held It looked to me as if you were trying to get rid of anyone who may be on her side" Talon spoke with a bluntness his mother had never heard before.

Gretel was about to put her son straight when she suddenly stopped to consider his accusation further. It was true she did not hold April in high regard and knew there were others who felt the same. It could be true that several someone's on the Deep Council had decided to make life easier for themselves by shipping out anyone who openly disagreed with them, but she did not like the idea of her boy being included in the group of dissenters.

"Believe me Talon, I had nothing to do with it but I promise you this; I will look into it thoroughly."

Gretel started to walk towards the door intending to call the others back in, but she stopped again when she heard Talons next question.

"Mother... are you a member of the Deep Council?"

"You shouldn't ask questions like that" she warned.

"Are you saying I could turn up dead too?"

Gretel took a deep breath, continued to the door and called everyone back. When they had all returned to the room, the questioning began with an explanation from April.

"We managed to get most of what you shot in Leonard's sitting room, but it appears that your communicator had all its files wiped remotely before it was finished downloading. Ruth and I watched what we had but did not notice anything incriminating, so we assumed what you wanted us to see was on the part we did not have."

"Did you see the coffee table?" Talon asked.

"Err... yes" April thought back to what she had seen there.

"Let's bring it up on the screen and have a look" Gretel suggested.

Even with the video image in fast forward, it was still very disturbing to see the two dead men once more.

"Okay stop it there" Talon called out when the table appeared.

"What are we looking for?" Sierra asked.

"Well this is obviously the altered copy" Talon noted "As part of the investigation, I copied my file onto the main security computer for my superiors to see. But when I saw it with their verdict of suicide, I knew I had to get the original to Mrs. Dias s soon as possible."

April took out her tablet and began to play the part of the recording she had managed to download. When she stopped the image at the same point as the one on the larger screen, the differences became clear.

"The first report I saw, noted that all signs pointed to there only being the two victims present in the room, but I noticed the table had three circular marks where three shot glasses had been placed. The same three marks, along with some spilled whisky... or vodka, I don't know what they were drinking... anyway as I was saying, the same three marks were on the kitchen bench top."

Marshal fast forwarded the image to reveal a bench top as clean as the table.

"We didn't get that far with the download" April admitted.

"It may not matter because you saw the difference on the coffee table" Talon reminded them "When I saw the official copy of the evidence, I could see it had been tampered with so I knew I had to get the original to Mrs. Dias as soon as possible because all the evidence clearly pointed to murder."

"Even thought there was some tampering with the video image, you seem to be making a very large assumption about it being murder" Gretel suggested.

"There's more" Talon continued "The report stated Klein and Topolski had each consumed a special pill. These pills were sent with Florian Klein and his three companions when they arrived as the first people on Mars. Many supplies had already been sent and construction robots had been working for many months, but there was still a slight risk that more supplies would not arrive in time; so rather than leave the first construction crew to die of starvation or asphyxiation, they had these pills to give them a peaceful death."

"Suicide pills? And Florian still had them after all these years?" Victor noted.

"I'm not finished yet" Talon interrupted. "I looked up the pills on the medical database and discovered each one consisted of a fast dissolving outer layer with a powerful sedative, as well as an inner core containing a painless poison to stop the heart."

"I am not enjoying this" Sierra admitted "Can you please get to the point?"

"The point is this; I noticed the recording I shot showed a container with four pills, but the official evidence copy shows the container to be empty. Also those pills were meant to be painless but I think it is plain to see Florian Klein and Leonard Topolski died in great pain. I think it is obvious that there was a third person there who poisoned Klein and Topolski. Whoever it was in the room with them, was not properly prepared and they had to work fast. Later when I had time to think about it, I started to wonder if Mrs. Dias and I had arrived sooner than expected; that could be why the place had not been cleaned up."

"The killer could have been hiding somewhere in one of the back rooms" April added.

"A definite possibility" Talon agreed.

"The Deep Council must have known Florian was about to give up their names" Victor noted.

"But how did they find out" Sierra asked and all eyes turned to Gretel Descott.

"You're a member of the Deep Council; did you call and tell them?" April asked openly.

Gretel grabbed April by the elbow and dragged her into the next room. Some of the others tried to stop her but April waved them back.

"You have got to stop accusing me of being on the Deep Council" Gretel hissed. "Can't you see my life would be in danger? "No matter what you may think of me, I swear to you; I did not call anyone and tell what Florian was planning to do."

Without letting April respond, Gretel strode back into the main room and made a loud declaration.

"I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the Deep Council no matter what April says."

"Alright I admit they could have found out another way" April said as she followed Gretel back in.

"They could have had the place bugged" Ruth shrugged.

"Or Marshal could have notified them" April added and received a very dirty look from the Mars Leader.

April turned off the image of Leonard's coffee table and sat down in the nearest chair and heaved a heavy sigh.

"There is no doubt about it in my opinion; Florian and Leonard were killed to prevent them from revealing the names of the Deep Council members. My investigation into their activities was never meant to get anywhere and was only meant to keep us busy while they attempted to consolidate their control over the new Mars Citizens Council. I must admit I do NOT feel safe here anymore and so as soon as we can organise it, Saffy and I will be leaving Mars and going to the Orbit Station. Welwill not be coming back as long as the Deep Council remains in control."

"Considering all we have done to help you, I think Jarred and I are also in danger and had better come along" Ruth added.

"Count me in too" Talon Descott declared as he stood up.

* * *

 **Working on chapter 83 at the moment and still can't see the end in sight. So apologies to those who just want to find out how it ends, but to those who like longer stories... hey, good news!**


	78. Chapter 78

**A few days of high temperatures (41C or 106F) has meant a few days of staying inside with the air con doing its thing. I didn't write all the time, but I got a fair bit done (yay!).  
So here is the latest bit of sneakiness and discovery.**

* * *

Chapter78

Suspicious Minds

"Talon; you can't leave Mars!" his mother plainly stated.

"Do you honestly think you can ensure my safety since I have just revealed the Deep Council's guilt in the deaths of two citizens?"

"Don't forget the Paramedic" April reminded him "I don't believe for a minute he jumped from the walkway."

Gretel Descott frowned as she considered the way events had changed and much to her own dismay, she eventually decided Talon was right and he probably should not stay on Mars. Thinking back to April's recent warning about the Deep Council gave Gretel a sickly feeling in the pit of her gut when she realised it was true; she did not and could not trust them anymore.

* * *

"You look like a total wreck" Bunker Guard Dennis Fenton noted.

Reed Branson did indeed look like he was about to fall asleep face first into his breakfast.

"I'm still not used to sleeping on land" Reed lied "When you spend such a long time at sea, the only time the ground feels like it is moving, is when it isn't."

Of course the truth was he had spent a major part of the night doing anything but trying to sleep. It had all been worth it though because he had managed to procure some very juicy pieces of information from Professor Adisa, so all he had to do now was succeed in passing it to someone who could get it out. Down in the second workshop were a number of half finished projects that would occasionally receive some tender loving care and Cid had described them to Reed in great detail. They both knew it would only be a matter of time before the room became part of Reeds patrol route and sure enough, he found himself there later in the afternoon.

Last week's group from El Centro may not have known what Cid and Reed were planning, but five members of the current rotation knew exactly what to look for. So when Reed appeared in the main workshop an hour later, they all kept a close eye on him to see what he would do. He wandered through the room with two other guards, looking just as menacing when on a nearby bench he noticed eight tools lined up in a row.

"I could use one of these" Reed noted to his supposed friends as he picked up shifting spanner.

"Hey don't mess with my tools, I'm gonna need that soon" one of the farmers protested.

"Relax I'm only kidding" Reed grinned and tossed the spanner over his shoulder.

All three guards laughed as the farmer fumbled to catch the tool before it hit the ground.

"You're right; they can't take a joke" Reed noted as they all walked off.

The man looked down at his work bench to where the tool had been taken and saw it was the sixth from the left. Six was the engine of the yellow front end loader in the next room; now he knew where to look for Reeds message.

* * *

A veil of despair hung over Calla and Blue as they sat quietly in a small alcove in the Gravity Ring of the ship waiting for Luis to finish talking with Abigail. Before going into his daughter's room, Luis had said he had some very important news to tell, but the waiting was beginning to make them both very nervous.

"It's bad news... I just know it" Calla stated firmly.

"I want to say no but... yeah it probably is" Blue sighed.

"I'm guessing your Dad's in big trouble for a start" Calla noted.

"He's been in big trouble since the day we first made contact."

Calla wrinkled up her nose and nodded; Blue was certainly right about that.

At last they heard a hatch open further down the corridor and Luis Dias finally appeared. Blue was sure he could hear the faint distant sound of his sister crying, sending his anxiety levels to new heights.

"Sorry to keep you so long" Luis said as he sat down.

Blue and Calla just stared intently for a moment.

"Some very disturbing things have happened on Mars" Luis began "Three people have been murdered and two of them were very dear to us. One was named Professor Leonard Topolski and he had been Abigail's chief instructor for more than three years. The other was Florian Klein, who was a kind of like a grandfather to both your sisters Blue."

"My mom is going to explode when she finds out we're going to a place where people are dying" Calla admitted.

"Well she won't have to worry too much because I'm certainly not going to take you to the surface of Mars" Luis revealed "Also Blue's mother and our other daughter Saffron will be leaving Mars along with a few freinds who also feel their lives are at risk."

"Wow... this ship is gonna get crowded" Calla noted.

"You won't have to worry" Luis smiled "The Mars Orbit Station consists of two artificial gravity wheels much bigger than these and we will be taking it with us. Twenty years ago it was a part of this ship and was how we transported hundreds of people at a time from Earth Mars. Now it will become our home while we help build the new colony in the Asteroid Belt."

"You mean to say the Mars Council is going to just let us take it?" Blue asked in surprise.

"There is no way for them to stop us" Luis smiled "and besides, they didn't build it."

"Who did?" Calla wondered.

"You met some of them back at the Railgun complex" Blue informed her.

"Those guys back in Sumatra?" Calla gasped.

"They were part of the worldwide team that put the Mars Project together" Blue nodded "Sarah told me all about it when I was a kid."

"You still are a kid' Calla smirked "So what else have you not told me about Sarah and the Railgun team?"

Blue smiled and tapped the side of his nose. There were no big secrets to tell but he liked to annoy Calla whenever he had the chance.

* * *

After a journey of over two and a half hours, Cid's truck finally pulled off North Harbor Drive and pulled up near the small patch of sand adjacent to what was once a Coast Guard Base.

"It ain't gonna be easy getting that thing out onto open water again" Cid noted.

There was definite truth in his words when considering what the small team was up against. The bow of the ship was well and truly stuck in the sand and behind it, a large number of aluminium masts protruded from the water; each marked the final resting place of various pleasure craft, once the pride and joy of the former residence of San Diego in a time long gone. Two rope ladders hung from the bow of the raider's ship marking where its crew had evacuated ashore before being captured by the sentries from El Centro and the crew of the One and All.

"I'll send a few people from my ship over to give you a hand" Jack offered the repair crew "but let us know by radio if you need anything specific."

A few of them gave a wave of thanks as they started to haul up their tool boxes, and soon Cid and Jack were back on the road. This time they only had to travel a few kilometres to the One and All, still safely moored near the southern end of the Pacific Highway. Cid reversed the truck up to the foot of the pier where they were met by Jose Garcia and his trusty rifle on sentry duty.

"Hey there Jack" Jose smiled "Good to see you're okay after the last strike; any word from the Captain yet?"

"Too early, but he's in the bunker safe and sound" Jack replied "Did you have much trouble here when the meteor hit?"

"Nothing to speak of; just some minor damage from the pressure wave, but as you can see we're almost done with some minor repairs" Jose gestured to the small ship.

Jack strode off down the pier with the other two men close behind.

"To tell the truth, we were more worried about you and the others" Jose added "You were much closer to the strike zone than we were."

"I was in the foothills at the time" Jack replied "The Bull Ant held up well but you should see the shrapnel down the left side. But you can see it later, I want to pick up some gear for now."

"What do ya need?" Jose asked.

"We're gonna take a trip north to check out the extent of the damage and search for survivors, so I want to take some more food packs and about two hundred litres of fresh water" Jack ordered.

"Well get right on it."

"Also you and Marion are coming with me" Jack added "Some of the raiders you captured were sent to work on farms up north; so if they've managed to arm themselves, I don't want to get caught with my pants down."

"This Jose and Marion" Cid asked "Good shots are they?"

"The best we have" Jack replied "Jose is a fine sharp shooter with a standard rifle and Marion's father was a military sniper and he taught her some very unique survival skills. They're the kind of people you want on your team when you want to show you mean business without actually killing anyone."

It did not take long to get the supplies loaded but before Cid and Jack could start the journey back, they received an urgent radio call from the other ship requesting they hurry over, which they promptly did.

"Did they say what the problem was?" Jack asked as they drove back North Harbor Drive.

"Only that there was something I needed to see for myself" Cid answered.

When the truck arrived back at the raider's vessel, it was met by four very concerned looking faces (suitably attached to heads and bodies) waiting by the road side.

"What's the trouble?" Cid asked.

Two of the group pointed to a hydraulic ram on the ground nearby so Cid went to inspect it.

"Naturally we started off with the steering gear and found this as part of the system" one of them explained. "You'll notice there are four bolts used to hold the unit onto the ship mounted frame, but only three are the same size; the fourth one is slightly larger."

"I don't see that being a major problem" Cid noted.

"The problem is I'm the one who fitted the larger bolt" the man stated.

"Run that by me again?" Cid asked.

"It would have been a little more than six months ago when I was working in the bunker" he explained "A couple of guards brought out this unit and told me to fix a stripped thread; so I drilled it out and re-tapped a new slightly larger thread and fitted a bigger bolt. When it was done they just took it away again."

"You're sure it's the same unit?" Jack wondered.

"One hundred percent" the man reassured them.

"Did you ask them what it was for?" Cid enquired.

"Yes and they said it didn't concern me. I assumed it was an actuator for one of the internal doors."

"So how did it end up on this ship?" Cid asked what no one could answer.

"There are three other units exactly the same; two on the port side and two on the starboard so this unit is not an addition, it was always a part of this ship. But somehow it got into the bunker, was repaired by me and was then sent back to be refitted."

"I find that more than a little disturbing" Cid declared.

* * *

Disturbing things were also happening at the same time on Mars. Barry Fine had not always been a paranoid man, but ever since he and Jarred Kinderman had helped April to reveal the existence of the Deep Council by modifying the Mars Base monitors, he had become very suspicious and wary. Fortunately nobody knew he had been a willing participant, so he was not under any surveillance and this gave Barry the opportunity to do some spying of his own.

Sixteen capsules waited in the hanger for the day they would be needed for someone to take another trip off planet to the Mars Orbit Station (assuming Calla hasn't already renamed it the Cosmic Cheese Wheel or something much worse). Four of these Capsules had completed all their checks and rebuilds and were considered to be ready to go, and the one at the head of the line was Capsule Three. Capable of carrying twelve passengers, it was only slated to take five people on its next trip, but Barry knew many more would choose to leave if April and Sarah Spencer succeeded in starting a new colony off world.

Ever since the murder cover up had become common knowledge, Barry had overheard many people talking about how worried they were. It now seemed the influence of this Deep Council had not diminished in the slightest since the revelation of their existence, and their desire to hold on to power was obvious to all. Most of the people Barry spoke with believed it was highly unlikely April and her four companions would succeed in escaping Mars with their lives, but she was unaware of this deadly rumour because all five had been kept in near isolation ever since their upcoming departure had been announced.

After giving the idea a great deal of thought, Barry came to the conclusion that it was doubtful the Deep Council would dare to stage an accident on Mars because the entire population had already made up their minds that if anything sinister were to happen, it would most definitely be another murder. An accident with their spaceship however would still be suspicious, but impossible to prove.

In order to minimise the chance of such a planned accident, Barry secretly set up a few surveillance cameras in the hanger connected motion sensors, and it did not take long for him to get a positive result. A mere eighteen hours later while watching the recording of the previous sleep cycle, he noticed a shadowy figure moving around Capsule Three when all the lights were dimmed. It was impossible to see who it was or make out what they did, but thirty seven minutes passed before the intruder finally left the hanger.

Without hesitation, Barry began a detailed inspection of Capsule Three but could not find anything out of the ordinary. Two and a half hours later, he sat down in the commander's seat of the capsule and contemplated his next move. Without some kind of proof that the ship had been tampered with, he would not be able to explain why he had set up the unauthorised surveillance and may even be accused of being the offending shadowy figure himself.

It took him almost an hour of contemplation before he finally managed to formulate a plan that would protect his friends without incriminating himself. Now all he had to do was to put his plan into operation; a task easier said than done.

* * *

 **Went out to give the garden some water yesterday evening and found a little black and white cat with a squeaky voice exploring the area. He thought about coming to say hello but was a bit too nervous and he soon trotted off home.**

 **I gotta get me a cat.**


	79. Chapter 79

**Hi everyone (smiles and waves).**

 **I've got the rest of the story mapped out and mostly written, so it looks like it should come in at about 95 chapters all up (gasp).**

* * *

Chapter 79

An Unwelcome Visitor

Down in his office, Marshal Barron read the latest report from the Security Office about the general mood of the Martian populous, and it did not make for good reading.

"As you can see, the people of Mars appear to be moving towards an inevitable revolution."

The digitally altered voice speaking to Barron was just one of the many who had controlled the actions of Olive Roux in the past, and now held sway over him.

"When we put you in place as head of the Citizens Council, it was hoped there would be general acceptance by everyone that you were not under our influence, but it appears that hope has been dashed and everyone believes you are just another puppet of the Deep Council."

"Y-you can't blame me for that" Barron said "I did everything that was asked of me, but you all went too far."

"You can relax Barron; no one is blaming you. In fact we have come to the realisation that we have been far too careless for too long. For over twenty years no one has suspected we were the ones in charge here and it has made us... shall we say... a little sloppy?"

"You could say that, but it would be a massive understatement" Marshal sniffed.

"Well I can tell you now, all that has come to an end" the voice declared "We have been meeting and have devised a plan to get everything back on track."

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Marshal sighed.

"I dare say you will not; for you will be going to the Orbit Station with Dias and her companions. We need to show the people of Mars that the supplies we sent were quite safe, thus putting more doubt on all of April's accusations about us."

"HA!" Barron laughed "I knew that food was safe. It will be good to see the look on..."

"Oh the food is far from safe" the voice revealed.

"What did you just say?"

"You need not be concerned; before you go, you will be given a vaccine to protect you from the influenza virus on board and everything else will be easy for you to avoid with some simple instruction."

"What do you class as simple instruction?" Marshal said with suspicion.

"For example, don't eat the grape jelly spread to avoid a mild upset stomach. There are a few more to remember but not many."

"How bad is this influenza you mentioned?" Marshal asked nervously.

"It is only a mild strain so anyone who has spent time on Earth, should already have sufficient natural defences in their immune system and only need rehydration and bed rest."

"What about Talon Descott and Abigail Dias?" Marshal checked.

"Talon was born on Earth and Miss Dias is young and strong, so the chances of her dying from a bad flu are exceedingly low."

"I don't think April and Luis would consider 'exceedingly low' as an acceptable level of risk" Marshal noted.

"Maybe not but we must convince the populous that it is too risky to allow future colonisation from Earth. If they believe their children are at risk, the citizens of Mars will demand you do something to stop the Earth invasion."

"It's hardly an invasion!" Marshal argued "As long as we can control the incoming numbers and the rate at which they arrive, there should be no problem at all."

"You are hereby formally warned" the voice scowled "We do not want that kind of information to spread among the populous. Don't even say things like that in private, if you want to maintain your position!"

"Understood" Marshal reluctantly submitted.

* * *

With only a few more days left before she would leave Mars, April began to feel very isolated. She rarely left home except to check on her botanic experiments and every time she went somewhere in public, people would ask her very awkward questions about who she thought was on the Deep Council or who she thought was responsible for the recent deaths. But the most troubling questions of all were related to why she was abandoning Mars.

April did her best to answer everyones concerns, but had taken more and more to simply working from home. Here she would still allow people to come and seek her council on any anything to do with her investigations, but she could also have some kind of control over how many people she saw per day giving her time to make departure preparations. After a week of visits, consisting of everything from casual conversations to hard interviews, April thought she had seen it all; until two security guards turned up at her door with the only true prisoner there was on the planet Mars.

"Hello April" Olive Roux smiled.

There are all kinds of ways for a person in custody to smile. There is the coy smile of admitted guilt, the fearful smile of an unknown future, and even the evil smile of the sociopath. Olive Roux though, gave the pleasant smile of someone who was actually happy to see an old friend.

"Olive... why are you here?"

"Sorry Mrs. Dias" one of the security guards spoke up "but she insisted upon seeing you before you left; said it was important for her to apologise before you go."

"Okay then; you apologise, I don't accept it, goodbye!"

"Wait please" Olive begged as April reached for the door button "Let me come in... just for a few minutes?"

April took a deep breath and sighed.

"Alright; come in everyone" she relented.

"No; you men stay out here" Olive insisted "How can I pour my heart out with an audience?"

The guards looked to April, who just sighed again and nodded.

"Thank you April" Olive said as she stepped inside.

"Make it quick Olive; I don't have a headache yet but I've got the feeling one can't be far away."

"Sorry to do this to you April, but I had to warn you and I couldn't do so unless I was sure we could not be overheard. Most of the bugged rooms in the base have been neutralised but as you might imagine, I am always under constant overt surveillance by both the people of Mars who want to keep me from contacting the Deep Council, and also by the Deep Council themselves because they don't want me to talk to anyone about them and their past activities; it's all very complex."

"So what do you want to warn me about?" April asked.

"Firstly, even though you won't accept it, I do want to apologise for keeping you in the dark about your son. When you arrived back in the US without him, I just panicked. The Deep Council had it all planned out; you would be told the ship had been sunk and all your friends lost, while Linton Adisa was under the impression you had been killed when your helicopter had been destroyed by the EFA. Once I'd had time to think, I thought of several ways I could have handled it better, but by then it was too late; I'd already told you your son was dead and the Council wanted us to get off the planet without any further delays."

"Yes I'm sure you were in a very difficult position, but..."

"Don't interrupt because I don't know how much time we've got before the guards take me away again. Before you go I have to warn you to be careful about any future dealings you have with Earth. I'm sure you can trust Professor Adisa and Doctor Spenser, but there was at least one person on that tanker ship who was not who he seemed to be, and the EFA is also not what you think they are."

"I think they were a bunch of idiots who were blind to what was happening all around them" April sneered.

"Your problem April, is you did not grow up in the age of capitalism and currency. These days everyone works just to survive, both here on Mars and back on Earth, but there was once a time where people with wealth and power wanted nothing but more wealth and more power. These people never had enough and some would even kill to get more. After the first wave of meteor strikes, the financial system began to fail so those who relied on their wealth found themselves completely at a loss; nobody wanted their money or their gold because food became the most valuable commodity."

"For someone in a hurry Olive, you seem to be going the long way round" April shook her head.

"All will become clear soon" Roux insisted "As well as those who had wealth, there were also people like Redding who were absolute sociopaths. People like him do not need wealth to stay in control because they can manipulate those around them with ease. When you are with Redding, he can make you feel like listening to him will bring great success, but that's not all; he also instils a high level of fear. Not fear of him personally, but fear of being left out or left behind while everyone else moves forward without you."

"Honestly Olive, I really can't see myself being drawn in by Redding; assuming he's still alive, and I highly doubt he is" April smirked.

"Oh he is, and I'm not worried about you" Olive warned "I'm worried about what he will do when he finds out what Doctor Sarah Spencer is doing with the railgun. When all this started after the first meteor strikes, the rich and powerful gathered together to discuss the problem; that was when he first formed the embryonic Deep Council. In that first group, he was able to identify those who were just fortunate enough to have power and wealth through family ties, and those who were truly ruthless like him. Do you want to guess what he did next?"

"Formed a power group with his ruthless peers?" April shrugged.

"No; he had them all eliminated" Olive admitted.

"What?" April gasped.

"The only ones he left alive, were the people he knew he could manipulate; anyone who would have an opinion of their own had to go. Before the global disaster of the Sholf 4 meteors, Redding was just your typical power hungry rich jerk, but the aftermath of the initial disaster was like a revolution of nature against humanity, and he saw himself as the people's only hope for the future. He wasn't the first man with delusions of grandeur to destroy anyone he saw as a threat."

April could not believe what she was hearing, but the worst was yet to come as Olive continued.

"Adisa and Spencer both made good leaders for the Railgun Project because they knew what they were doing, and they didn't really care about being in charge. The people in the complex are happy to follow Sarah now because they know she will just guide and co-ordinate them without inducing any fear. But when Redding learns about what is happening, he will not be happy till he back is in full control; that was why he started the EFA, so he could control both sides of the human chess board."

April was stunned to hear the truth about the EFA and Redding's control over it, and she soon found herself doing something she never thought she could do; asking Olive Roux for advice.

"So just what do you think I should do about all this?"

"Your friends on Earth cannot pretend they are safe in their underground home" Olive warned "Like it or not, they have to prepare for war."

As if what Olive had said wasn't bad enough, April then had to listen as Olive revealed the true facts about Henry Deming being Blues grandfather. It would not be easy, but she knew it would soon be up to her to tell Luis that his father had actually been alive all these years.

"There are just over two and a half thousand people here on Mars April; but the original plan was for there to be millions in the long term. Redding and the rest of the Deep Council knew they could not keep effective control if there were many settlements all over Mars and Redding thrives on being in control. Now that the Railgun can send people into space, you can bet your bottom dollar the Earth Branch of the Deep Council will find out about it and either take over, or try to stop it."

"And that is why Sarah must be prepared to fight" April sighed.

"Not an easy thing to do, but the only alternative is to give up, lie down and die" Olive admitted.

* * *

 **You are right about the plot getting intricate Vim. Bringing the story to its conclusion while setting up for the future, tends to mean there is a lot to include as characters find out what they didn't know before.**

 **There is more to come out in the next story so I wanted to wrap up a bit of the current mystery before moving on; sorry if I'm hitting you all with too much at one time. As I had said before (a few months ago) the next story will not follow as many characters, so should be much shorter (about 35% ish as long as this one).**


	80. Chapter 80

**Hi again.**

 **The plot is getting so thick, you could eat it with a fork. Hope you all don't mind the cliffhangerish endings to most of the chapters.**

* * *

Chapter 80

The Worst Laid Plans

Silence hung like a veil over the truck cab during the trip back to El Centro. The entire team had just spent the last hour looking over the raider ships engine room and had found three more signs of their own handiwork.

"Look at this way" Jack offered "If you all have been maintaining that ship, then I'd say you have a legal claim to use it."

Although he had succeeded in breaking the ice, Jack had not managed to raise the slightest hint of a smile from Cid.

"How did they do it Jack; how did they get us to fix the ships that would enable them to steal our food and equipment?"

"That's the million dollar question I suppose" Jack nodded.

"I feel like A DAMNED IDIOT!" Cid punched the steering wheel in frustration "The bunker guards are obviously in on it but... but... HOW?"

With no answer to offer, Jack fell silent once again until Cid speculated on something even more disturbing.

"The raiders were always better armed than we were; did they source their weapons and ammo from the bunker too."

"If they had more guns than you, why didn't they just take over?" Jack wondered.

"I always put it down to laziness and a sense of privilege" Cid replied "They would only ever get really violent when we'd try to run them off. The raiders were always content just to let us do all the work, and then they'd just take what they needed. Pathetic if you think about it."

"To think we came half way around the world looking for answers and only ended up finding more questions" Jack snorted.

"I wouldn't mind asking a question or two for myself" Cid noted with venom in his voice.

Cid wanted to start heading north as soon as they got back to El Centro but while they were loading the Bull Ant, one of the pickup trucks arrived back from the bunker and the driver was quite agitated.

"We just got the first message from Captain Branson" he told them.

"Have you read it?" Cid asked.

"Most of it, and its dynamite stuff."

Cid asked a few locals to help load up the Bull Ant while he and Jack went inside the house to study the small pile of pages they had received. Always one to stay in the loop, Haley followed them in and as they sat down at the kitchen table, she grabbed a few pages to peruse as well.

"I like the way these are written" Cid noted "Bullet points of information with detailed explanations underneath. This professor friend of yours is defiantly well organised."

"Yeah he's fifty percent scientist, fifty percent engineer and fifty percent academic" Jack grinned.

"That's not possible; it adds up to be one hundred and fifty percent" Haley pointed out.

"You don't know the Professor" Jack disagreed "I wouldn't be surprised if there was another twentyish percent of something else in there as well."

They sat in silence for the first minute until Jack found his first great revelation.

"Good Lord... Prime Governor Redding himself is still in charge and it says here that Professor Adisa has been finding out all kinds of information from him."

"How can the Professor do that if he's a prisoner?" Haley asked.

"It says here on my page that Redding likes to keep Linton and Henry close by" Cid read "Apparently he constantly brags about how clever he is and... wait... this is interesting; he has already given orders for your friends to be released if he dies and the Professor is sure it is because he wants the truth to get out so he can gloat even after he is gone."

"Well the truth is getting out a little early" Jack noted.

"Dad, look at this" Haley passed one of her pages over.

As Cid started to read, his mouth dropped open.

"Oh this is just impossible" he gasped.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"According to this, the Earth First protests from so long ago were only small until Redding and his Deep Council used them to form the EFA and literally take over control the entire world. Apparently there were never any major battles with EFA forces, just carefully manipulated skirmishes between allied groups who thought they were clashing with the enemy."

"That has got to be one of the most disturbing things I've ever heard" Haley said.

Just then, Cid and Haley noticed Jack had fallen silent as he read and the words on his page sunk in.

"I don't like the look on your face" Cid noted.

"And you're not going to like this either" Jack shook his head "Do you know what a Hyperloop is?"

"Never heard of it" Cid replied.

"Haven't a clue" Haley agreed.

"Well whatever it is, Redding has got one that starts in Sacramento and ends inside the far end of the bunker; I think it must be some form of transport."

"Sacramento is over five hundred miles way" Haley thought "Why would he want Hydroloop thingy to go there?"

"Hyperloop not Hydroloop, and I'm wondering if it has something to do with the Raiders" Jack put forward "There's a deep water shipping channel running from Sacramento to San Francisco Bay so if they have their base anywhere in that area, it explains how you guys ended up repairing parts from the Raider Ships. Also fuel is hard to come by these days and there are bio fuel refineries inside the bunker."

"Are you telling me we have been supplying fuel and parts to the same people who steal our food?" Cid gasped.

"Could be" Jack stated "It sounds like the kind of thing Redding would do to keep both groups dependant on him."

Cid looked to his daughter to see if she was just as upset as him, but was surprised to see her crying as she read another page.

"Sweetie... what is it?"

She clasped her hand to her mouth and pushed the page into her father's hand, so he started to read.

"The bunker here is of the same size and design as the Railgun Base in Sumatra but with many differences. Where there were huge farms for food production on the western side of the Pacific, here there is a private botanical garden for Redding and two European style villages for the Earth bound members of his Deep Council. Several farms do exist but are dedicated to the production of grapes and other botanicals for use in the production of wines and spirits, as well as exotic spices and herbs so the residents can enjoy high quality meals. Indeed I feel quite guilty eating this fare, but I cannot deny these are the best meals I have ever tasted."

"Don't stop Dad... keep reading" Haley sniffed.

"These gardens, farms and wineries are tended by... oh my god... by what can only be described as... slave labour. If I understand the procedure correctly, if more staff are needed down here, an accident is staged either here or in Sacramento and... and the apparent victims are taken deep inside the bunker where they live out their lives in servitude while their friends and families grieve for their losses."

Cid just stared off into the distance as the gravity of what he had read hit home.

"Mom's alive" Haley sobbed "Mom is alive and living as a slave inside that damn bunker; we've got to get her out."

"We can't be sure Haley but if she is, then we've got to get them all out; but we have to be smart about it" Jack said "Right now we have no chance in a straight fight with those guards but I know we can work something out if we don't rush it."

"What do you have in mind?" Cid asked.

"I must admit, I'm playing it by ear at the moment but I think the first thing we should do is see if we can get some information from one of the former raiders. If we can convince them that Redding has been playing them for fools, it would make our lives easier when the time came for a rescue."

"The ones we still have after the meteor strike are over at Smit Cloud Dancer's place, but I really want to get going north. If there are any survivors out there, I don't want to keep them waiting" Cid noted.

"How about we send off the Bull Ant while you and I drive over to Smits place?" Jack offered "It moves slowly so we can always catch up with it later today."

With this plan was agreed to, Jack tried to get it underway quickly, but someone simply did not want to co-operate.

"Come on DeGroot, why won't get off and stay here?" Jack asked the stubborn man.

"I have my reasons" he replied "I'll be helpful and I promise not to get in the way."

"But the One and All may be heading back to the Railgun someday soon. Don't you want to go too?"

"Not particularly Mr. Sumner" DeGroot answered.

"You infuriating little..." Jack mumbled as paced back and forth.

"Believe me sir, I know what I'm doing" the odd man insisted, so Jack relented.

"Alright but I want you on the top deck with a pair of binoculars looking for survivors; not hiding like you usually do" Jack ordered.

"Understood Mr. Sumner."

"Where did you find that guy" Cid asked.

"The real question is when can we lose him?" Jack replied.

* * *

For the small group leaving Mars, it seemed like the day of their departure would never come. But eventually April and her crew finally found themselves on their way to the hanger to board the ship that would take them away, possibly forever. A veil of dark silence hung in the air as they walked down the corridor, away from the only home they had known for over fifteen years. Each one of them knew it was the right thing to do but that knowledge did nothing to make it easier.

Something else that was not easy to face was the man waiting for them in the anteroom of the hanger.

"Well fancy meeting you here" Marshal Baron said ironically.

"To tell the truth, no!" April declared "Why are you here Marshal, and why are you wearing a flight suit?"

"It's all thinks to you April" Baron sneered "Because of all your baseless allegations and accusations, I decided the only way to bring back some badly needed trust in the Mars Government, was for me personally to go with you to the orbit station and prove that there is nothing wrong with the supplies we sent to your husband."

This truly did come as a surprise to everyone present and it even made April doubt her opinion of the Mars leader.

"Well then... let's get going" April said as she could think of nothing else to say.

"You can get going" Marshal corrected "Talon is coming with me."

"What?" April said.

"What?" so did Talon simultaneously.

"We will be going in a separate capsule and we'll meet you in orbit" Marshal informed them.

"I don't understand" April admitted "Why are you taking another capsule and why are you taking Talon with you?"

"I'm taking a separate capsule because when you realise how wrong you are about me and the rest of the Citizens Council, we still hope that you will change your mind and come back to Mars. This would be difficult if I take your capsule with me when I return in a week or two."

"What about Talon?" April checked.

"Well it doesn't make sense for you all to go on the one ship while I go alone on the other. Talon is the only person I can order to come with me but you're welcome to join us if you wish."

"No thank you" April sneered.

"How about Saffy?" Marshal asked "Would you like to send your daughter on my ship?"

"Mom?" Saffron looked at her mother with a very worried expression on her face.

"Saffy will be coming with me" April pulled her daughter in close.

"Of course she will" Baron stated "So do you see why it was foolish of you to ask why Talon is coming with me? I wouldn't even bother to ask the Kindermans."

"You can go all by yourself for all I care" April sneered.

"It's alright Mrs. Dias" Talon interrupted "I'll see you on station."

Tensions grew as the group made their way in relative silence into the hanger, although the presence of the launch technicians helped April relax as they busily prepared for the double launch.

"I can't believe you are actually doing this" April said quietly.

"I don't really have much of a choice" Marshal replied "Can't you see the damage you have done here?"

"Don't blame me for all this; it was the Deep Council who wanted me to head up the investigation and it was the Deep Council who blocked me at every turn."

"The Citizens are in charge now but you have made the whole base think we are all just puppets" Marshal hissed.

"And you think this stunt will make everything okay?" April smirked derisively.

"It's not a stunt; it has to be done to prove you were wrong."

"Even if I am wrong about the supply ship, I know I'm right about the murder of Leonard and Florian" April declared.

"Don't forget the medic; or doesn't he matter because he wasn't a close friend of yours?"

"Go suck a lemon!" April snorted.

One by one the passengers of the both capsules were assisted into their seats. Technicians fitted every seat harness and connected each suit to the internal air supply while others did final visual safety inspections inside and out. Because of the high gravity and thick atmosphere of Earth, each capsule would have to be mounted on top of a massive multistage rocket booster but here on Mars, a small reusable booster the size of a minivan was all that was needed to achieve orbit.

With all checks complete, the ships were moved into the airlocks on mobile platforms. Once they had cleared the outer doors, it was only a short ten minute trip to the launch site. Halfway through this journey, Marshal Barron switched on his intercom and was patched into the Main Base Communication System.

"Good morning everyone; this is Marshal Barron speaking. As of this moment I am officially stepping down as current head of the Mars Citizens Council because I am taking a little trip. Recently the trustworthiness of the Mars leadership has been called into question for a second time. I suppose this is understandable because we were all surprised to find out about the existence of the Deep Council, but some people have had a very hard time accepting the fact that they no longer hold any sway over the base. These people have even made baseless allegations about me, as well as about the supplies we have sent to the orbit station for our friends in space.

This is why I am leaving Mars in a few minutes to spend some time at the Orbit Station, where I will meet the new arrivals from Earth and sustain myself with the food many people believe has been tampered with. You may ask if I am worried about coming into contact with April's long lost son and the girl from Earth, but the answer is no. Everyone has done their time in quarantine so we can all feel safe about their arrival. Rumours have spread saying we on Mars do not want any visitors from our old home, but this is simply not true. We merely wanted to be sure all visitors were free of any pathogens that could harm our children, who have never been exposed the Earth environment; I'm sure you will agree it is a wise precaution to take.

I hope when I return, I will be able to resume my place on the Citizens Council, but I will not be seeking the leadership position for the time being, because we have many good and qualified people who could easily take on the next term as leader.

Thank you for listening and I will see upon my return; Marshal Barron out."

Gretel Descott stood in near the back wall of the control room, watching as the preparations for launch were completed. Barron's little address would surely set Martian tongues wagging as the populous began to doubt if the accusations of April Dias could be trusted. If she was wrong about the supply ship, maybe she is also wrong about the recent deaths being murder. A wry smile spread across Gretel's face at the thought of the tide turning against April when she was not around to defend herself. Gretel hoped the problems of the recent past would soon just melt away.

"Oh what is it now?" Gretel asked herself when her communicator buzzed.

"Is Marshal going in the same capsule as the others?" The voice on the line panted and seemed short of breath.

"Who is this?" Gretel snapped.

"Its Barry Fine and I think one of the capsules has been sabotaged!"

Without answering, Gretel closed the connection and moved into an empty back room. She presses a secret series of numbers on her communicator and waited impatiently for a reply.

"What is it?"

"I just received a call from Barry Fine" Gretel said with urgency "He says one of the capsules may have been tampered with so is there anything I should know; anything you want to tell me?"

"If any action had been taken, you would have been informed."

Without another word, the connection was cut so Gretel returned to the control room. Everything was proceeding as normal with only a few more seconds left on the countdown when the side door flew open and Barry Fine literally fell into the room.

"Oh no!" he said when he saw two ships on adjoining pads.

"What is your problem Fine?" Gretel snapped.

"A few days ago, I saw someone tampering with Capsule 3" he said "I tried to find out what they had done, but couldn't find anything wrong."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" The head controller asked

"Without any proof? If I had mentioned it, there is a very good chance I would have been the next one to turn up dead."

"So you did nothing and waited until now to tell us; are you crazy?" Gretel barked.

"I did do something about it" he answered.

Just then, the countdown reached its conclusion and the two ships slowly lifted off their pads.

"I swapped the Ident Transceiver from Capsule 3 with the one in Capsule 10. I figured if there was something wrong with 3, then we could try and find it later."

"What number capsule are Barron and my son in?" Gretel asked.

"Capsule 10, which would mean they are really in... Capsule 3" the controller admitted.

Although Gretel wanted to believe what the other Deep Council member had recently told her, she had a definite sinking feeling and it was only getting worse with every passing second.

* * *

 **With the temperature topping over 40 C yesterday, I went to the beach in the evening to just watch the sunset, float and chat with friends. When I got home there was a little orange cat in the driveway. He was very friendly and stuck around for a chin scratch before heading off. I hope he visit again because the black one hasn't been back.**


	81. Chapter 81

**A funny thing happened a few days ago. I thought I had reached the end of the story but then another chapter just appeared out of nowhere. Should be done soon and then I can tell you how many chapters there will be till the end.**

 **Thanks for enduring and I hope you find this one exciting.**

* * *

Chapter 81

A Final Act of Desperation

All pretence of secrecy was thrown to the four winds as Gretel grabbed her communicator and called the secret number once again.

"MY SON IS IN CAPSULE 3!" she shouted "TELL ME WHAT YOU DID!"

The person on the other end did not even bother to answer Gretel, but simply ignored her and cut the connection.

"All systems appear to functioning normally on both ships" one of the controllers offered.

"I don't care" Gretel barked "Abort Marshal Barron's ship and bring it back."

Organised chaos took over in the control room as technicians proceeded to override the automated systems.

"Jettisoning capsule in three, two, one."

The abort rockets on the side of the capsule fired and it separated from the booster; but almost immediately, a warning began to sound

"Medical alert, medical alert" the automated computer system cried out.

"It's the carbon dioxide levels" one of the controllers noted "They're already three times the safe limit and still climbing."

"The CO2 scrubbers!" Barry slapped his forehead "I was so busy trying to find something in propulsion or navigation that could crash the ship, I never thought of the Life Support System."

"We'll never get anyone out to the capsule in time from here" the head controller noted "Alert Base Two to have a rescue team with oxygen standing by and we'll land the ship as close as we can."

"How close can you get it to Base Two?" Gretel asked in a panic.

"In an emergency such as this, I'll drop if a few meters from their front door" he smiled reassuringly.

Hope began to rise in the control room, until a slurred voice came in over the radio.

"Jish... this is Marshl... Barron... ... ship is... off corsh... swishing to manual."

"NO BARRON, STAY ON AUTO; WE'VE GOT YOU!" the head controller shouted into his mic.

A dark cloud of despair descended over the room when it became clear that Marshal Barron, starved of oxygen had indeed tried to take control of his ship. It lurched sharply to the left before starting to roll and tumble down towards the surface of Mars. The controllers tried desperately to re-establish their command link but it all came to a sudden and violent end, when the ship struck the ground and exploded sixteen kilometres west of Base Two.

Gretel Descott sank to the floor; she couldn't speak, she couldn't cry, all she could do was sit and take short breaths. The room was silent for an apparent eternity until Barry Fine knelt down beside the distraught mother.

"I... I'm so... so sorry" he begged "I had no idea they were going to use a second ship today; none of us did."

Gretel turned and looked into Barry's eyes as anger and realisation welled up inside her.

"No!" she stated "You didn't do this... they did... and they will pay!"

She held out her hand for Barry to help her back onto her feet. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she made her way to the comms desk and picked up a desk mic.

"People of Mars, these are the names of the Deep Council members, and they are all responsible for the deaths of Doctor Florian Klein, Professor Leonard Topolski, Junior Medic Ron Granger, Councilman Marshal Barron and... Security Officer Talon Descott."

Gretel took a second to compose herself before she spoke again while all over the base, people started the recording functions on their communicators. Much to the horror of the surviving members of the Deep Council, Gretel then acted on her threat and slowly recited each and every name. While this was going on, April and her shipmates flew on into orbit, completely unaware of their narrow escape. They were also unaware of the madness going on down at Base One because in all the shock and confusion, no one had thought to make contact and tell them. All over the base, Deep Council members found themselves being physically grabbed and restrained by those around them as their names echoed throughout the corridors.

When she had finished, Gretel just turned and walked from the room. She wandered a short distance down the corridor to a small private communication room where she sat at the desk, accessed the computer in front of her and began to type. She wrote for nearly half an hour, making many corrections on the way, as she wanted every last bit of her anger, resentment and loss to be expressed in her words.

When she had finished, Gretel sent her message off to Earth, pushed the keyboard away and leant forward in thought. Something shiny caught her eye and when she looked down, a small metal broach pin caught her eye. It was a tacky little thing made with colourful ground glass and it was in the shape of a flower. Gretel recognised it immediately as the one she had seen April Dias clutching between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand during the many hours of interviews and testimonies when she still headed up the Deep Council Investigation Team. April had always removed the pin from her pocket and held it during times of great stress, giving Gretel a clue as to how it had come to be lost under the lip of the keyboard. This must have been the same comms room April had used when she had contacted her husband to inform him of the recent deaths of their good friends Klein and Topolski.

For the first time ever, Gretel Descott could truly understand the sense of loss April had been feeling. She finally knew how April had suffered inside for so many years, believing her own son to be dead because of a bad decision she had made so many years ago. Reaching forward, Gretel picked up one of the headphone sets and opened a private channel to the ship in orbit over Mars.

"Hello April."

A look of stunned surprise washed over April's face as the last person she expected to hear from, gave her a friendly but melancholy greeting.

"Gretel... is that you?"

The others in the capsule turned towards April; none of them could hear the incoming message through the private channel.

"You were right April; I just had to tell you... that you were right."

"I like to think I'm right most of the time, it drives Luis crazy; but what are you talking about?"

"Talon is dead April" Gretel said in a broken voice "The capsule he and Marshal Baron were in just crashed near Base Two. It was the Deep Council who sabotaged it, but it was you they were trying to kill."

April found herself unable to reply but instead she turned to look at Saffron in the seat next to her, as the young girl excitedly relished her first flight into space. The thought of losing her own life paled into insignificance when compared to the thought of losing another one of her children.

"I'm sorry about Talon, he was a good boy and I was very impressed by him" April replied honestly.

Everyone else in the capsule jumped slightly when April referred to Gretel's son in the past tense.

"I need to tell you something" Gretel continued "Actually I've got more to tell than you could ever imagine."

"I'm listening" April prompted.

"I've just written to my father back on Earth to tell him what has happened."

"Your father?" April wonder how Gretel could manage to do this.

"Prime Governor Redding himself; I'll bet that surprised you."

"Err... yes, just a lot!"

"The misogynistic old bastard has got more to do with this than anyone realises; more that even I myself know, but it has something to do with my older brother."

"I didn't know you had a brother" April admitted.

"His name was David Redding but much to father's disgust, my brother rejected the families capitalist ways and changed his name to Falcon Skye when he joined a militant environmentalist group back in about 2019; that was why I named my own son Talon, just to annoy my father" Gretel smiled to herself.

"What has that got to do with...?"

"Please April, I have a lot to get through" Gretel begged "A few months after he left, father invited my brother back to talk, but David refused until father agreed to give him a fair chance to do most of the talking and really listen to what my brother had to say. Well it started out civil until the evening deteriorated into a real shouting match but to my surprise, after a few hours of David declaring capitalism and consumerism were nothing more than the exploiting of the masses, while father argued that people like him brought jobs, growth, prosperity, and all the other stuff billionaires go on about while choosing the colour of the calfskin seats for their new Ferrari."

"I take it you and daddy did not get along much either" April noted.

"You don't know the half of it but getting back to my story, to my surprise father and David eventually stopped shouting at each other and instead started discussing things like rational people."

Something very strange was definitely going on here. April could not work out why Gretel was so insistent in giving her former foe a complete family history so soon after the death of her son. At first she assumed it was some kind of coping mechanism so Gretel would not have to think about what had happened.

"What were they talking about?" April asked.

"I wouldn't have a clue because father would not allow me in the room; as I said before, he's a real misogynistic old bastard. Anyway they stayed together for most of the night, having food brought in and rarely taking a break, until late the next morning when my brother came out and called for me. He told me everything had changed and it was going to be alright, then he hugged me and left... and I never saw him again."

April still could not understand what was going on but decided I would be best just to let Gretel keep venting her spleen for now.

"After that, my father changed dramatically. Not at home though, where he was still the same selfish and manipulative man he always was, but in public he became a philanthropic advocate for the public good. I don't know if you knew, but he was even touted as a possible candidate for president, though he turned down the opportunity time and again saying he could do more outside the restrictions of public office. All that changed after the Sholf-4 meteors first hit the planet. Father was the first to pour billions of his private wealth into the Mars project saying although Earth may die, the human race should go on and he implored all of the worlds wealthy to stop buying things like solid gold doorknobs and do something useful for a change."

The computer on April's ship beeped as information about a standard course correction came on the screen. Ruth and Jarred seemed to be on top of the whole situation, which was good because April had very little knowledge of ship systems. She did her best to ignore the distraction as Gretel Descott continued rambling on about her chequered family history.

"When father was asked to serve on the International Mars Project Committee, he jumped at the chance because he said it was a great opportunity to do something truly selfless and worthwhile for humanity. Needless to say, he did favours for all the right people and got himself elevated to the position of Prime Governor over the whole project in a very short time. The public started to see his tough side again when he personally headed up the fight against the EFA, and I got to see his tougher side when I married a man father did not approve of. He been trying to force me to fall in love with someone from one of the right families, but I was just as uncooperative as your husband Luis."

April's heart jumped upon hearing what Gretel had said. So Luis was supposed to choose another girl, but had instead fallen for her; this made April feel very special indeed.

"I found out just how dark my father's soul was when six months after Talon was born, my husband just disappeared and although he denied it, I just knew father was responsible. It was then he told me I was going to Mars and all about the secret Deep Council he'd created. He said Talon would grow up to be its leader and would be in charge of Mars, Earth and everything else but he didn't count on the Deep Council becoming disagreeable and fractured over the years."

"This is all very interesting Gretel but shouldn't you be telling this to the authorities on Mars?" April wondered.

"I'm telling you because you have friends on Earth you can trust. There is more to this than even I know and I'm sure it has something to do with my brother David, and what he said to my father all those years ago. You came so close to finding out the truth here, and that was why people started turning up dead. I was hoping you would not give up investigating; once you have caught up with your family..."

Gretel had to stop and take a deep breath; she felt so envious of April and her family now.

"...then perhaps you could contact Earth and see if you can really get to the bottom of the whole mess."

The last thing April wanted to do now, was worry about what should be resigned to history, but she could tell Gretel thought it was very important.

"I promise I will look into it" April said and she meant it.

"Thank you" Gretel smiled and cut the channel.

As April's ship flew on towards its rendezvous with the Orbit Station, Gretel Descott rose from her seat and left the room. Although Deep Council members were being restrained and taken into custody all over the base, nobody gave Gretel a second glance as she wandered down the corridor, passed the control room and into the main hanger. With no more ships scheduled to arrive or depart in the near future, the vast cavernous space was relatively devoid of human life apart from a few people doing some basic maintenance. One of these people glanced up as Gretel walked by, but he did not think anything of it until the standard warning buzzer sounded to indicate one of the inner airlock doors was closing.

It took the man a few seconds to put together all the casual sensory input he had just received into one coherent scenario.

"Oh SHIT!" he cried out as he ran for the door.

By the time he reached it, the inner door had locked so the buzzer had silenced itself but a flashing strobe light indicated the airlock was still in use. On the inside, Gretel Descott stood silently with tears streaming down her face as the outer door began its unlocking procedure. A loud hiss sounded as soon as the slightest crack formed in the door seal, so Gretel knew her pain would soon be over.

Suddenly the hissing stopped as the door began to re-clamp itself before Gretel could even feel the pressure change.

"NO!" she cried and ran to the outer door, slamming her fists against it to no avail.

A few minutes later the inner door opened up and a group of medical care workers entered to find Gretel sobbing on the floor. One of the doctors administered a sedative and she was taken home to rest while being kept under constant supervision.

* * *

With the Bull Ant finally on its way north and the small camera drone searching the surrounding countryside, Cid and Jack made their way west to catch up with Smit and Shifty Cloud Dancer to question their prisoners. But up in the hill face to the east, a big surprise was in store as a sweaty and dirty man strode up to the outer gate of the Bunker Security Zone.

"What have we got here?" one of the gate guards sneered.

"Another one of those damn farmers who doesn't know how to follow procedure" his boss said.

The three guards on duty grabbed their rifles and wandered out of the gate house. They didn't leave the shade of the building, but just waited for the disgusting man to get closer.

"Where do you think you're going" the leader asked as the man neared.

To their surprise he did not answer and he did not stop, but just continued towards the armed men. When it became clear the man intended to walk straight passed them and through the open gate, they levelled their weapons and stepped into his path. The man eventually stopped, but not before he felt the barrel of a rifle press against his chest.

"That's better" the head guard grinned "Now why don't you be a good boy and turn around? When you get home, I'm sure your friends will take good care of you and teach you some manners. If you don't go I may have to teach you myself."

The filthy man looked down at his chest and then to the left and right. Just when the guards were beginning to wonder about the man's sanity, or lack of it, he suddenly grabbed the barrel on his chest and jerked it sideways.

There was a loud explosion as it discharged underneath the dirty mans left elbow, making all three guards jump back in surprise. In one fluid move the man pulled the smoking weapon out of the head guard's hands and thrust the stock into the face of the man on his right. The rifle barrel was then swung around into the left guards head, sending him crashing to the ground before the dirty man finally thrust the side of the weapon into head guard's nose.

"WHERE'S REDDING?" he yelled.

The three stunned men lying on the ground looked at each other with surprise while trying to stop the blood flowing from their wounds. When no answer was forthcoming, the dirty man pulled back the rifle bolt and readied it to fire once again.

"I said... where... is... Reading?" he repeated as he aimed the weapon between the head guards eyes.

"Err... who?" the guard asked innocently.

"Wrong answer" the filthy man replied and fired the gun, just nicking the head guards left ear.

It was mainly shock and fear that made the guard cry out. He rolled over clutching the side of his head for a few seconds before he realised the ear was still attached to his head.

"Now then..." the dirty man reloaded the barrel "who wants to keep all their facial features intact?"

"P-p-please... he'll want to know who you are" the left guard begged.

The man smiled as he lowered the weapon, just a little.

"You can tell him... Commander Neville Sage has come to pay him a little visit.

* * *

 **I like to think the end of this chapter was a complete surprise to all, but experience tells me some of you would have guessed who the dirty man was straight away.**

 **Thanks again and more soon, Marty (TM)**


	82. Chapter 82

**Exciting news at the end of this chapter... well... news anyway.**

* * *

Chapter 82

How's Life Treating You?

Smit Cloud Dancer sat in his kitchen looking very much like a man who was tired of not getting the answers he sought. Cid and Jack sat on either side of him wearing similar looks on their faces while on the opposite side of the table, a very annoyed former raider, and now captive named Carson Rake, stood with his arms crossed and his face even crosser.

"You can sit down if you want" Smit offered but the man did not move.

"We have recently been given some new information about... well... about a great many things and we would like you to fill in a few gaps for us" Cid added.

"You're bluffing" Rake sneered "My men would not have told you anything."

The raiders had made a habit of not giving away any information about themselves, their strength or where they had come from, and the two other men who had already been questioned, remained as silent as statues. What Jack and the farmers from El Centro had to do now, was fool Carson Rake into believing his friends had talked.

"If you say so" Smit sighed "Now I was wondering if you could tell us what a Hyperloop is?"

This question really threw Carson; it seemed harmless and he did know what a Hyperloop was, but he just wasn't sure if he should tell his captors without knowing their motives.

"You look confused" Jack noted "Don't worry about it, there is no shame in not knowing."

"I do know" Carson blurted out "I'm just not sure if I should tell you."

"Why; is it something you plan to use against us?" Cid asked.

"No... it doesn't exist" Rake insisted.

"So you're saying you are not sure if you should tell us about something that doesn't exist?" Jack smirked "You'll excuse me if I find that a little hard to believe."

"Alright is kind of exists" Caron admitted "Back in the old days, a test track was built underground between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. If it had been viable, the plan was to take it all the way to San Francisco."

"So it's a train?" Smit asked.

"Hardly; it's a sealed tube with a vehicle inside that runs on magnets in a near vacuum. With no air resistance to worry about, it could travel at speeds close to seven hundred miles per hour."

"And there is one that runs from here to Sacramento" Cid noted "Near your base of operations."

Rake looked like the group had just said something mean about his mother.

"WHAT? How did you know about our settlement? Which one of those traitors talked?" he demanded to know.

"Calm down Mr. Rake... and please sit down" Cid begged.

"I DEMAND TO KNOW WHO TALKED!" Carson insisted.

"You did Mr. Rake" Jack smiled.

"But... but you already knew."

"We had information about a Hyperloop between here and Sacramento so we had a strong suspicion that you came from there, or from San Francisco Bay" Cid informed him.

Carson Rake finally sat heavily on the chair behind him. He looked very confused about the whole business.

"No... no it was never built" Carson insisted "I used to live near Bakersfield as a kid but work stopped on the test track after the first meteors hit and the tunnels were used as a secure manufacturing plant for the Mars Project; just like that bunker you took over."

Cid and Smit glanced at each other; everything was beginning to fall into place.

"Who told you we had taken over the bunker?" Cid asked.

"Well... it's common knowledge; and you're here aren't you?"

"Yes we are here, but we are not in the bunker" Smit noted "Seriously though, can you remember when it was you were told about us?"

"It would have been about ten years or more; a group of men came and called the whole district together. They told us about the bunker and said now that production of Mars Equipment had been completed, it was now available for everyone to use as protection from meteors, but you all had taken possession by force."

"These men, I assume they were the ones who encouraged you to start raiding us?" Cid asked.

"They said you had plenty of food and supplies, and you were stockpiling it while others starved" Rake said accusingly.

"And then these nice men gave you weapons, fuel and food packs and even helped you to keep your ships in good running order" Jack noted.

"Yes; they helped when you wouldn't" Rake sneered.

"I assume they come from a heavily guarded place near where you live" Cid nodded.

"A compound about twenty miles away" Rake admitted "They keep the last of the fuel and food supplies safe, but they give us whatever we need."

"Okay listen up" Cid leant forward "I don't care if you don't believe me or not, but you have to hear this. We do not live in the bunker but we do work there in shifts. We are the ones who grew the food in your food packs, we are the ones who refined the biofuels you use and we are the ones who repaired the broken mechanical parts from your ships. We only recently learned the bunker is run by former Prime Governor Redding and he has a trick he's been using to control people for years. He knows it is difficult to stay in power over a large number of people when they feel reasonably content, so he keeps everyone in smaller groups and stays in control with each one, by setting them up in conflict with the others."

"No... Redding is not our leader; also he'd be dead by now" Carson noted.

"We don't see him either but we recently managed to get a spy inside the bunker and he's been getting information from Professor Linton Adisa" Cid watched Rake's face to see his surprised reaction.

"You were told to look out for Professor Adisa because he's on this list, weren't you" Jack nodded.

Smit produced a copy of the list and slid it across the table.

Carson Rake got out of his chair and grabbed the piece of paper in front of him.

"Where did you get this?" he asked accusingly.

"Copies were given to us by the same people who gave them to you" Cid said.

"But that was over ten years ago!"

"Sixteen to be precise" Cid noted "When the Professor arrived here recently, we did what we'd been told to do and took him to the bunker. I assume you were told to take him to this compound you told us about before; I dare say that is where the Hyperloop terminates."

"Err... yes we were told to bring anyone on this list to the compound" Carson said as he wondered about the significance of what he was hearing.

"If you had the chance to do so, Adisa would still have brought to the bunker via the Hyperloop and you would have been rewarded instead of us" Smit said.

"Reward; what did you get for him?" Rake asked.

"Two cans of fuel and two boxes of rifle shells" Smit revealed.

"That's not much" Rake sneered.

"It is to us" Smit said forcefully "Because it seems a large amount of what we produced here was sent to you in order to buy your loyalty."

"There's more you need to know" Cid stood up and paced to the window "Another thing our spy informed us of, is that some of your people who you believe to be dead, are actually being held in the bunker as labourers, as are some of ours."

"You're lying" Rake hissed.

"It's not something I would lie about; there's a good chance one of them is my wife" Cid sighed.

"How much of what you've been telling me can you prove?" Rake asked suspiciously.

"Almost none of it, but we intend to find out what we can before we take any action" Cid revealed

"What action" Rake looked worried.

"I can't tell you that, but rest assured it does not include us moving against your friends near Sacramento. We want to make peace with them, not take revenge; then we can hopefully free both our groups from Redding's influence."

"So what do you want from me?" Rake asked.

"We want you to talk you friends outside into going with me to look for survivors from the recent meteor strike. All our settlements have storm cellars with food and survival gear so chances are good we'll find someone waiting for us. We're willing to bring back your people too, but we're hoping to avoid any fighting" Smit Cloud Dancer answered.

"Why can't I go look for survivors with you?" Rake wondered.

"Because you will be coming with us when we sail up the west coast to San Francisco" Jack answered.

"Just what are you planning?" Rake was very suspicious.

"With the recent meteor strike almost wiping us out, and you losing two ships during the last raid, we are guessing Redding will want both of us to rebuild before you attack us again" Cid noted.

"What we've learnt recently about everything Redding has set up here, seems to suggest he wants to keep us in some kind of balance. So we think he will send more supplies to keep you going and help to build up you forces and when we get back on our feet down here, then you'll be told to start raiding us again" Smit added.

"And you want me to try and talk my people out of starting those raids?" Rake guessed.

"Yes but that's not all" Cid sat down again "When the time is right, we want you to cause trouble at the compound you told us about. We're guessing Redding will send reinforcements up north to keep you out and while things are quiet here, we will do a little raiding of our own on the bunker, to try and rescue all the people who are prisoners inside."

"If there are any of my people in there, what happens to them?" Rake asked.

"We get them out too" Smit nodded.

Carson Rake leaned back and pondered the offer.

"What makes you think they'll believe me? Hell I'm not even sure I believe you!"

"Your only other choice is Redding wins and we go on fighting each other" Cid noted.

Against his better judgement, Carson Rake agreed to go along with the plan for now, so the only thing left to do was to drop off Smit and the former raiders at the Bull Ant. It did not take long for the small truck to catch the huge vehicle as it lumbered north at a fast walking pace.

"Change of plans" Jack informed Marion and Jose "These guys from the raiders group will take care of any arguments; I want you two to come back with us on the truck."

"Where are we going now?" Marion shrugged.

"Back to the ship and then on to San Francisco" Jack informed them.

"We drive for hours out into the middle of nowhere and now it's back to the ship" Marion mumbled "I wish these men would make up their minds."

"I heard that" Jack called out.

"GOOD!" came Marion's blunt reply.

* * *

With the capsule finally docked at the central hub of the Mars Orbit Station, April and Saffron were both happy to climb down the stairs to the ring section and experience gravity once more as it turned slowly in space. Like most first timers, Saffron had felt quite nauseous while in zero gravity but it was her mother who suffered the most with the added effects of morning sickness adding to her woes.

Jarred and Ruth had some very important work to do before the MTV arrived, but first they spent a few hours helping Saffron to become acquainted with the systems in her new home. Then while April prepared a series of adjacent rooms, so her new expanded family could be close together, the Kindermans finally dealt with the problem of the supplies from Mars. Their original plan had been to load it all into an airlock facing the planet and then blow it out into space so it could eventually burn up in the atmosphere, but now the Mars Citizens Council wanted it all back for testing with the intent of using the results in the various up and coming Deep Council criminal trials.

Waiting another few days for the MTV to arrive had not been too difficult for April, but waiting several hours for the final manoeuvres soon became unbearable. First they had to cease all rotation of the Orbit Station, meaning she felt constantly sick again, and then Luis and Abigail had to separate the front section of the MTV in order to rejoin the two ships.

While the vessels were being reincorporated for the first time in over a decade, Blue was filled with anxiety at the thought of seeing his mother at last, Calla was nervous about becoming the only outsider in the larger group, Saffron felt a genuine concern about this strange young man who she feared would expect her to accept him as family before she really had the chance to know him, and April was just excessively impatient.

"WILL YOU TWO HURRY UP AND GET THESE SHIPS JOINED TOGETHER?" she barked at the Kindermans.

"Just a few more minutes" Ruth tried to calm her friend.

"You've been saying that for hours" April huffed as the Pink-headed Fruit Dove of Frustration pulled at the little hairs on the back of her neck.

At last they all felt the station rumble as the connection was made. The sealing system went on to make all kinds of shudders, hisses, grinding noised and even small explosive pops.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Saffron asked again and again after each and every noise.

"For the last time YES" Ruth said for the second to last time.

The docking mechanism engaged with a loud clunk, giving Saffron one last chance to ask her standard question and Ruth the chance to give her the final answer.

A few minutes later, when the air pressure had been equalised and all connections verified, Luis opened the airtight door before floating back so April could see her son with her own eyes for the first time in over sixteen years.

Much to her surprise, April found she was unable to move as she just floated near the doorway.

"Go on, off you go" Luis told his son and the young man proceeded to drift forward.

April covered her mouth with her left hand as she tried in vain not to cry out loud but the tears floating near her face could not be stopped.

"Hi Mom" Blue smile when he reached her.

The sound of his voice was the final straw for April as she jumped forward and threw her arms around Blues neck. The momentum of their collision sent them both tumbling back towards the MTV but Luis was fortunately on his toes as he braced himself and caught them both in a three person hug.

'Life is good' Luis thought.

* * *

 **HARRY POTTER SPOILER ALERT! Just in case you STILL haven't seen it. (Seriously dude, what's wrong with you?)**

 **I'm sure most of you remember the end of the last Harry Potter movie, when Harry and Ginny were standing on the platform with their friends Ron and Hermione, watching the train take their kids off to Hogwarts. Now imagine if the movie had not ended there; what would have come next?**

 **On the way out of the station, Ron and Harry go to the men's room and complain about the smell before the couples go their separate ways in the car park. On the way home, Ginny is feeling the anxiety of sending her kids off to school and she gets into a big fight with Harry about where they should go to dinner. Of course this is a ridiculous idea but it is precisely what I just did at the end of this story.**

 **But wait; "End of the story?" you ask. YES! It's finally finished!**

 **I was working on chapter 94 when I suddenly realised that I had passed my planned ending and had kept going with the most horrid drivel. So I re-wrote 93 and 94 into one chapter with all the filler taken out and LO! I SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD... well... acceptable anyway.**


	83. Chapter 83

**Feels weird to be done with a story that has taken over two years to complete, but it does mean some others can start I suppose. Only 10 more to post now.  
**

* * *

Chapter 83

The Enforcer Returns

Even though Redding ordered Sage to be escorted safely to him, the suspicious former Martian still kept all three captured rifles with him until the buggy sent to pick him up arrived at the door to the reclusive leader's private garden.

"Sorry but I can't let you go inside armed" the battered and bruised gate guard insisted.

"You want to try and take them?" Sage sneered.

The guard could do nothing but shake his head and sigh as he wondered what kind of punishment Redding would order he undergo later.

"Relax" Sage gave an evil grin and left the rifles on the ground by the door.

Even knowing what kind of person Redding was, it still did not prepare Neville Sage for the sight that greeted him. He whistled in amazement as he walked down the centre path, watching the projected clouds move across the ceiling while the trees rustled in the artificially generated breeze.

"Happy to see you're taking such good care of yourself" Sage said sarcastically when he saw the old man sitting on a park bench sipping a glass of red wine.

Two peacocks wandered out of Sage's path as he approached.

"Oh my god... what happened to you?" Redding gasped "You look disgusting."

"You're no feast for the eyes either, you fossilised old prune" Sage sneered.

"Talk to me like that again and..."

"And nothing" Sage snapped "You've lost old man and the sad part is, you don't even know it yet."

"Don't be stupid; everything is working out just as I desired it to" Redding postulated.

"Have you given any though as to why I'm here?" Sage asked.

"I assume it's because Roux doesn't need your special talents on Mars any more" Redding shrugged.

"No; it is because the Mars Deep Council couldn't cope with me using my so called special talents to protect them, and so they will soon be over run by refugees from Earth."

"Impossible!" Redding stated.

"Not when you consider Professor Adisa has the ship."

"Ship; what ship?"

"THE ship you senile old coot! The tanker you thought your precious EFA had sent to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean sixteen years ago" Sage barked.

Redding's weak heart began to beat a little faster as he realised what this news meant. He opened a small panel on the arm rest of the bench and pressed an equally small button.

"Get Adisa in here RIGHT NOW!" he ordered "Drag him if you have to!"

"Adisa is here?" Sage was actually surprised.

"He didn't tell me; he's been letting me run my mouth off while making me think NOTHING WAS HAPPENING BACK IN SUMATRA!" Redding fumed as he hurled his wine glass at one of the peacocks, falling well short of hitting it.

"Adisa... is here?" Sage continued to be surprised.

"He arrived a few months ago; but I made sure people in the area knew what to do if they ever came across him or his group of do-gooders."

A surprisingly short amount of time passed before a few guards, including Reed Branson, forcefully led the Professor into Redding's presence.

"You want to see me I assume" Linton said nonchalantly.

"See you? I WANT TO KILL YOU!" Redding admitted.

"Oh... we're back there, are we?" Linton shrugged "Who's your friend with the interesting aroma?"

"I'm not surprised you don't recognise me Professor" Sage smiled "The last time you saw me, you threatened to blow my head off with a flare gun."

"That doesn't sound like me; also I think I'd remember if I..."

Sage's smile grew when he saw the Professor memory return.

"You were that helicopter pilot" Linton gasped "The one who evacuated us from the ship."

"Yes; the same ship that is now beached in Sumatra" Sage nodded.

"THE SAME SHIP YOU NEGLECTED TO TELL ME ABOUT" Redding barked.

"I didn't think it was important" Linton shrugged.

"If you think I'm going to just stand by and let you ruin everything I've built on Mars by sending more people..."

"Relax" Linton waved off Redding's concern "Sarah's not sending anyone to Mars; she's planning settlements in the Asteroid Belt."

"SHE'S NOT SENDING ANYONE, ANYWHERE" Redding stated adamantly.

The true head of the Deep Council was clearly disturbed as he paced back and forth while he thought. Anyone who tried to speak soon stopped when Redding gave them the 'Shut up or else' stare. When he finally stopped pacing, Redding pointed a wrinkled bony finger at Sage.

"You; go wash up and put on some clean clothes. Then you and the Colonel get over to my house and I'll tell you what you're going to do about this."

"I'm going to Sumatra so I can get off this doomed rock again" Sage stated.

"YOU'LL DO WHAT I DAMN WELL TELL YOU TO DO, AND I'M TELLING YOU TO GO TO SUMATRA AND DESTROY EVERYTHING; THE SHIP, THE RAILGUN AND ANYONE WHO GET'S IN YOUR WAY!" Redding shouted and stormed off.

While his mercenary guard made sure Redding's orders were carried out, Reed Branson kept close the Professor, pretending to keep the old man from escaping.

"So what now" Linton asked "Back to the house?"

"Do you want to go back to the house?" Reed asked.

"I want to follow Redding and see what he does now" the Professor said "Maybe I can talk some sense into him."

"Well nobody told me to watch you so I think I'll get back on patrol" Reed nodded "Just stay out of sight for a few minutes so I can pretend not to notice you."

When Branson had gone, Professor Adisa hurried down the path to Redding's home as fast as his elderly legs could manage. He caught up with the man he followed shortly before Redding entered his front door and slammed it shut behind him.

"Damn that Adisa; I should have him shot just for..."

Redding's personal rant ceased when he saw a yellow warning light flashing over the fireplace. It wasn't the first time the light had informed Redding about an urgent message from Mars, but it was the first time it had flashed in over ten years. It took him a few seconds to find the panel underneath the fireplace mantel but when it finally clicked, a small door opened on the right side wall. Behind it was a keypad that worried the elderly Jamaican professor spying through the window, because he could not quite make out what number Redding punched in.

With the key code entered a large wall panel opened outwards. Behind it was a chair and a keyboard for the old man to work at. As soon as he tapped the space bar, the wall above the keyboard lit up, revealing it to be a huge monitor screen. Redding used an old style tracking ball to move the cursor to the new file labelled 'Mars Base One' and clicked to open it.

"Oh my..." he gasped as he read.

Linton could not see the message but he could see the former Prime Governor becoming visibly upset. Redding had to stop reading before he reached the end of the message; he pulled a small pill box from his top left breast pocket and fumbled with the lid. The tiny white pill was difficult to swallow with such a dry mouth, but he managed to get it down eventually and he soon completed the message. When he had finished, Redding just sat for a few minutes taking deep but broken breaths, until he felt ready to make a very important announcement.

"Attention all guards" he spoke into a desk microphone "Round up each and every resident from both villages and escort them to the door outside my park. There are to be no exceptions; all must attend."

Redding hung his head for a few seconds before he rose and made for the front door. A short time after he had left, Linton quietly slipped inside and smiled because Redding had conveniently not closed up his secret workstation. Working quickly, the Professor hurried across the room and sat down in the chair. He started looking through the draws on each side until in the fourth one, he found exactly what he was looking for.

Picking up one of the small memory sticks in the draw, he plugged it into the nearest USB port. Without looking at what he was getting, Professor Adisa did a blanket download of the entire Documents folder before pocketing the Memory Stick and making for the door. He would have liked to have stayed and searched for more, but getting away with a little is always better than getting caught and ending up with nothing.

* * *

 **Don't ask me why, but I just felt like doin' some reminiscing about how this all began.**

 **This story started off in the year 2085, but the first parts I worked on were foundation shorts starting in 2032, in the aftermath of the first meteor strike.**

 **There was a story about the lowly senator suddenly being raised to the position of President of the United States when all those above him were killed in a meteor strike on Washington, a story about the construction of the Railgun in Sumatra, one about the formation of the EFA and the early days of the war and one about a young Florian Klein and his three companions as they started construction of Mars Base One.**

 **Some of these tales were even written in first draft, but the only one to survive long enough to be published was 'The Ship'. I figured that the story of how April and Blue became separated was the only one really needed to get the ball rolling.**


	84. Chapter 84

**Contest time: Who knows the source and significance of this chapter's title? The prize is a free trip to Mars on the MTV in 2085. (terms and conditions apply)**

* * *

Chapter 84

It's Only a Motion Away

It took Luis and the Kindermans over an hour to connect the rear section of the MTV to the opposite hub of the Orbit Station so while they worked, April took Calla and her children out to the still stationary artificial gravity ring so they could all get to know each other.

"Then I suddenly realised that I was way smaller than Doctor Spencer, therefore I would be light enough to co-pilot for Blue and help save the day" Calla bragged "So I told them they should send me instead."

"And if I remember rightly, Sarah and your mother both gave you the same response" Blue smirked "Oh hell no!"

Everyone laughed at Blues impersonation of Calla's mother, even though no one but Calla herself knew what she really sounded like.

"Mom never really wanted me to go, but I eventually managed to convince her not to stop me."

"I owe your mother a lot" April said sincerely.

"In the end Calla didn't do much" Blue smirked "She was essentially a convenient arm extension."

"An arm extension who saved your butt with an inflatable life raft" Calla shot back as she and Blue started laughing again.

April's eyes lit up as she observed the easy rapport these two had with each other, but Calla stopped laughing and turned slightly red when she noticed the knowing smile on Blues mothers face.

"So how did you two meet" April asked.

"And was it love at first sight?" Saffron teased.

Abigail gave her baby sister a very angry look for spoiling the moment, with her still very immature ways.

"More like near death at first drop" Blue replied.

"Y-yeah... but looking back, I'm glad I didn't stab you in the neck with that screwdriver" Calla tried to laugh again, rather uncomfortably.

"Stab him in the neck!?" April gasped.

"Our first meeting was an adventure in itself" Blue admitted "so maybe we should tell you that story later, during some of our inevitably boring trips through space."

"We've got so many stories, we could probably monopolise the after dinner conversation all the way back to Earth" Calla agreed, relieved that the subject had been changed.

Blue was trying to think of a question he could ask about life on Mars, without drawing anyone into talking about all the recent upheaval. He was having a lot of trouble coming up with anything, but he was let off the hook when a mild notification alarm sounded a few seconds before the Gravity Ring started to turn once more. It took a short time to slowly come up to speed but when it did, Saffron started to feel very uncomfortable.

"I know we've been weightless for the last several hours, but is returning to normal gravity supposed to be this difficult?" she asked "I feel like I weigh a ton."

"You're just not used to an Earth level of gravity" Abigail smiled at her sister's discomfort."

"Earth gravity?" Saffron gasped "Why would you want to put up with that?"

"You'll get used to it Saffy" Abigail smirked "and you'll get stronger too... eventually."

"If I don't die first" she overreacted.

"You're overreacting dear" April said but she still contacted Luis in the control section.

"Don't forget you've got a pregnant lady and a little Martian girl up here" April stated bluntly into the comms system "Do you think you could give a break with the gravity levels?"

"Sorry dearest, I wasn't thinking" Luis admitted "I'll slow the ring and wind it back to one third Earth normal, then bring it up gradually over the next few days."

"The next few weeks!" April insisted.

"Like I said, the next few weeks" Luis thought it wise to agree.

* * *

Redding's order to assemble came as quite a surprise to everyone concerned, residents and guards alike. The youngest member of the earthbound Deep Council was now fifty four years old but the oldest was in her early eighties, although she kept her exact age a closely guarded secret. No one was sure why Redding wanted everyone to wait outside in the main corridor and a few even dared to question the entire situation. All mumbling ceased though when the man himself opened the door to his private garden and stepped out.

He paced along the line of people, staring into their faces with what could only be described as seething hate. Many of them wished he would say something, but they soon changed their minds when he did.

"It seems your friends on Mars have forgotten exactly why they are there" he began "and that makes me wonder if you remember why you are here."

Redding kept pacing as he paused, giving everyone time to think; time to remember why indeed they were there.

"Maybe you think it is because you are being rewarded for your loyalty; maybe you are saying to yourselves 'We helped Prime Governor Redding to achieve his goals, so now we get to live out our days in luxury without risk of being killed by an unexpected meteor', but you'd be wrong."

As Redding gave his venomous speech, Neville Sage watched and listened with great interest. The Prime Governor had always been a selfish man but Sage had never realised just how self centred he was. Past friendship and past assistance meant very little to this man with his 'What-have-you-done-for-me-lately?' kind of attitude.

"What many of you fail to realise is that you are now, and have always been, MY HOSTAGES!" Redding shouted in rage "Your children and grandchildren whom I saved by sending to Mars knew what was expected of them. Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa back on Earth would be well taken care of as long as we do what Emperor Redding demands of us."

These last words came as a complete surprise to just about everyone. Nobody had ever heard Redding refer to himself as Emperor before, but it certainly did not seem out of character; it just didn't appear that he had much of an empire.

"This is the problem though" Redding continued "It seem like your precious offspring must have forgotten what is important after all this time; and what is important, IS ME! I did all this; I spent my entire life setting up this whole business of de-populating the Earth and creating a new hierarchy. All the Martian Government had to do was let my Grandson Talon take his rightful place as leader when he was old enough, and they all would have remained as the new ruling class forever."

It was true they all knew Redding wanted his Grandson to grow up and become the leader of the Mars colony, but everything else the self proclaimed Emperor had said made very little sense to them.

"I'm sorry sir, but what do you mean by de-populate the Earth?" someone actually dared to ask.

"What do you think it means? It means I'm turning this planet back into a paradise by getting rid of all the excess people."

With that statement it became clear Redding must have gone completely mad. It sounded like the sort of thing he would do if it suited him, but it was clearly well beyond his power to achieve. As Reed Branson stood amongst the contingent of guards, the only explanation he could think of, was this crazy man must be going senile and actually believe the universe was bending to his will.

"But it was all for nothing" Redding continued "because I just received word from my daughter on Mars that the Deep Council have been changing everything. They must have thought I wouldn't find out; they must have assumed that I had died a long time ago, BUT THEY WERE WRONG!"

"What happened sir?" one of the so called hostages tried to make Redding get to the point.

"I'll tell you what happened" Redding said in a sweet voice that worried everyone.

The old man walked away from the group so he could look at them all at once.

"THEY WERE SLOPPY; THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED! Their existence was discovered and so they started to ad lib their own script and thanks to their foolish actions... MY GRANDSON IS DEAD!"

Redding let his head fall as the words hit home to those in front of him.

"My Grandson is dead and he never had the chance to rule; he never had the chance to start his own family and keep my dynasty going."

Fear began to take hold of the entire group; hostages and guards alike. Very few of them really knew what Redding had been up to and nobody knew his entire plan. But now everything had fallen apart for the old man, they were all unsure what he would do next. Most hoped he would simply give up, crawl off back into his garden and die, but their hopes went drastically unfulfilled.

"As you can imagine... I don't really need you as hostages anymore" Redding said softly.

"Does err... that mean we can go now?" someone was foolish enough to ask.

"Oh I'm afraid it doesn't work that way" Redding smiled in a way that made everyone nervous. "When a hostage is no longer needed... they are executed."

A loud murmur ran through the group as they all took a step back.

"READY YOUR WEAPONS!" Redding ordered his guards.

The men who served Redding had always enjoyed the power they wielded over the bunker, the El Centro farm district and Raiders of Sacramento; but none of them had ever expected they would someday be called upon to execute a large number of relatively innocent people. Every man did as he was ordered, but each moved slowly hoping beyond hope that what was happening would not reach it horrific conclusion.

"Excuse me sir" the Colonel stepped tentatively forward "Sorry sir but... is this really necessary sir?"

To Cook's delight, Redding did not explode at the question.

"These fools here may not have known it, but I had an arrangement with the other fools on Mars and they knew what would happen if they dared to cross me. Now you have known me for a long time, haven't you Colonel Cook?"

"Yes sir."

"And you know that I don't make veiled threats and then change my mind later, do I... Joshua?"

"N-no sir" Cook was worried; Redding have never used his first name before.

"Then your choices are to carry out my order, or go stand with the hostages" that unnerving smile returned to Redding's face.

"Understood sir" the Colonel saluted and joined his men.

"Raise you weapons" he ordered.

Each man did as he was told but they all moved with painful slowness and Sage had the feeling most of them would fail to pull the trigger when order came to fire.

"Oh for heaven's sake" Sage sighed and strode over to Redding "Let me do it sir; it's plain to see they don't have the stomach for this."

"Alright Sage; but are you sure you want to shoot all of them... one at a time?"

"I just want to get this over with" Sage replied as he walked to the first guard.

The man offered his rifle but Sage shook his head and pointed to the man's side arm. Once he had the pistol, Sage checked the clip. Realising there was not enough ammunition, he took clips from the pistols of the two nearest men.

"When you ready sir, just tell me who you want me to start with."

Redding gave that horrid grin again and pointed at the wrinkled old woman of indeterminate age. Reed Branson desperately tried to come up with a plan to stop Redding but as he was not yet permitted to carry a weapon himself, his options were limited as Sage stepped to one side and raised his pistol. The other hostages all looked away and many of them started to softly cry. Even the guards lowered their eyes from the gruesome scene and then they all jumped as the crack of the gunshot echoed down the wide corridor.

Everyone looked up to see the old woman still standing there, shaking like a leaf. All eyes then turned to Sage, only to see he too had turned to the left before firing. A few meters from the end of his smoking barrel, the man who had recently proclaimed himself Emperor fell dead to the ground.

* * *

 **I'm thinking of including a next story teaser after the last chapter. What do you think; good idea, or just plain cruel?**


	85. Chapter 85

**For a long time I thought of this story just having its current readers who were with it from the start, but I just noticed others are starting from the beginning and working their way through; neat! Hello to you all and welcome. Thanks as well to all you patient guys and girls waiting for the next chapter, like Stripesicles222, Vim and Draco38; it's good to know you are there :)**

* * *

Chapter 85

New Enemies and Sneaky Sisters

"Anybody got any complaints?" Sage asked sarcastically as everyone continued to stare at the body of Prime Governor Redding.

A few of the guards raised their rifles in an attempt to protect themselves from the assassin of their fallen leader, but it soon became apparent there was really no point when Sage put the gun away in his belt.

"Okay listen up; I think it should be clear to everyone that I have just done you all a great favour. Redding clearly had given up trying to build something positive here and now only intended to go off on a deadly vendetta" Sage declared.

Even the guards who had been loyal to their leader for many years could see the truth in what Sage was saying. Redding's recent declaration that he wanted the Railgun in Sumatra destroyed, followed by his order to murder all the other residents of the bunker, clearly showed that following his orders would lead them nowhere.

"I have recently arrived back on Earth, after a relatively safe and comfortable life on Mars" Sage continued. "Returning here and one day being killed by a rogue meteor was never part of my long term plan, so I intend to do whatever it takes to get off this doomed rock and return to Mars as soon as humanly possible. If any of you want to go on waiting here for the end to come, you can for all I care but as for the rest of you, if you want a better future I know how to get off this planet and where the means to do so is located. I killed Redding because wanted to destroy it, but I intend to use it to save my own life, along with the lives of anyone who will fight with me."

Reed Branson knew he would have to do something to help protect his friends on the other side of the Pacific, but he could not work out what to do, how to do it and when to start. As he considered his options, one of the other guards brought up something Reed wished had been left unsaid for now.

"Excuse me sir, but Redding told us that when he died, Adisa and Dias were to be released; should we still follow this order?"

"Hell no because we'll be able to... hey... where is Adisa?"

The guards looked to each other, then around the corridor until Colonel Cook asked the obvious question.

"Did anyone take him back to his house?"

Again they all just stared at each other.

"I'm surrounded by idiots" Sage shrugged "WHERE DID YOU LAST SEE HIM."

Without answering, they all just turned and looked at the door to Redding's garden, so Sage stormed over and threw it open. Reed followed close behind; he wasn't sure if he could protect the Professor, but he was damn well going to try. With most of the guards in tow, Sage discovered he did not have to go very far because Professor Linton Adisa was sitting on a nearby park bench waiting patiently.

"What are you doing here?" Sage asked.

"I'm not doing anything here" Linton stated "Redding didn't tell me I could go, so I thought I'd better stay. He gets very angry if I do anything he hasn't given approval for."

"Well you don't have to worry about Redding anymore because I'm in charge now."

"Oh... does that mean I can go home now?" Linton asked innocently.

"If you mean Sumatra, you'll be going there alright... eventually" Sage said threateningly.

"Actually I meant to my little house down the corridor."

"I think I'd better lock you up for now" Sage declared and turned to the nearest guard who just happened to be Reed Branson "What do you use for a prison in here?"

"Adisa's house is his prison sir" Reed answered.

Colonel Joshua Cook stepped forward and confirmed this to be true.

"Yes sir; Redding did not like it when Adisa would go wandering at night, sticking his nose in everywhere, so he had lockable gates fitted to his house."

"Good; lock him up and send all those other fossils back to their houses too; I'll deal with them later. On my way in I saw a lot of people working in what looked like factories; what's the deal with them?"

"The first ones you would have seen when you entered from outside, are from the local farming settlement and they come and go once a week. The others beyond the inner checkpoint are... shall we say... permanent employees?" Cook smirked.

"So... basically slave labour" Sage noted.

"Yes sir" Cook replied "The people on the outside believe them to be deceased."

"Sounds like the kind of thing Redding would do. Continue to keep both groups separate for now; and until further notice, nobody goes in or out without my permission."

"Understood sir" Cook saluted.

"You seem to be the leader of these men" Sage noted "What's your name?"

"Joshua Cook sir but the men call me the Colonel."

"Then you can call me General" Sage gave a self satisfied grin.

"Why is everyone taking orders from you Sage?" Professor Adisa wondered.

"There's been a hostile takeover" he declared.

Reed led the Professor out into the corridor and told him about Redding's strange empirical rant that led to his death. Back in the garden, Sage had already started making plans but Cook sought answers to questions he was not sure if he should ask.

"Sir, can I be frank with you?"

"You want to know why you and your men should trust me" Sage guessed.

"That is part of it sir" Cook admitted "For a long time now I've been considering exactly what I should do when the Prime Governor finally passed on, because it's been clear to me for a good many years, that he's been simply monitoring everything he'd put in place while entertaining himself. He kept a lot of what he was doing a secret from me, so it wasn't clear if we should keep the status quo when he was gone, or make some changes. We have enjoyed a life of relative safety and privilege here, but it seemed Redding was the only one here who was not concerned about the Earth being suddenly destroyed with no warning."

"And you like the idea of going off planet with me?" Sage grinned.

"Yes but you can be sure that my men are already wondering if letting you take over is a good idea. No one is going to miss Redding, but you can't expect anyone to follow you at the point of a gun."

As if to prove a point, Sage removed the pistol from his belt and pointed it at Cook's head. The Colonel flinched slightly but stood his ground as Sage started to laugh, before he turned the gun around and offered it to the relieved Guard Leader.

"You're right of course, so let me tell you why I am just what you need at this time" Sage declared smugly "On Mars I followed the orders of the Mars Base Overseer, while she took her orders from the Mars Deep Council. What none of them knew though, was that I had standing orders from the Prime Governor himself, to eliminate anyone outside the council who should chance to discover the ship Redding was so worried about."

"This is the ship that would allow Adisa to launch people into space?" Cook asked.

"Exactly; without it the Railgun could only launch cargo but with the equipment on board, it could be extended and modified to launch humans. Don't ask me why, but Redding did not want that to happen; not back then, not now and not ever. I was okay with that when I was safely up in space but now I'm down here, I want that Railgun up and running as soon as possible."

"How did you end up back here Sir?"

"Two ordinary citizens of Mars saw the offending ship from orbit, so I followed Redding's orders and blew them out into space. One of the Mars Deep Council members got upset and tried to take me down as well, but I was too quick for him. I abandoned ship and took refuge in an emergency capsule for a few days, intending to go back to the interplanetary ship when the heat was off. But to my surprise when I got back, there was a small ship from Earth docked to it, proving the Railgun could now launch a human cargo. So with my supplies running low, I decided to return to Earth and head here with the express purpose of raising a strike force, taking the Railgun Complex by force and then going home to Mars."

"But Redding wanted the Railgun destroyed" Cook noted.

"And that was when he signed his own death warrant; as far as I was concerned" Sage nodded.

"So do you have a limit as to how many people should be permitted to leave Earth?" Cook asked.

"I don't care if everyone goes as long as me and my army are the first to go. There is an old German man on Mars who is going to pay for what he did to me" Sage growled, not knowing the Mars Deep Council had already done the job for him.

"You intend to take over the Mars Base?" Cook was surprised.

"I certainly don't intend to be double crossed again, and I think being in charge is the best way to ensure it never happens; if you can think of a better way, I'm all ears."

The Colonel thought about everything Sage had said, and the offer sounded much better to him than just sitting in the bunker and trusting to luck.

"I'll have to talk to my men but I feel quite confident in saying, I think you have the beginnings of the army you want."

"I thought I might" Sage grinned.

"You'll be interested to know, there is a settlement north of here near Sacramento, where I believe you will find more willing volunteers."

"It will take us a long time to get to Sacramento unless you have some fast vehicles available" Sage noted.

"We have something better" Cook answered. "We have a Hyperloop."

* * *

Life in the MTV slowly settled down as the excitement over the families first meeting drifted into recent memory. Luis set up a three shift schedule for piloting the ship while April commandeered Saffron and anyone who wasn't currently flying the ship to start work on clearing out some of the unused rooms in the two large artificial gravity wheels. As soon as she could get her hands on some new equipment from Doctor Spencer, she intended to fit out every last inch with some hydroponic food plant production and algae based water filtration units.

Abigail was please to see her father had put her down as co-pilot to Ruth Kinderman, because she had always gotten on well with Ruth during training back on Mars. Blue was placed with Jarred and the two soon became good friends as they worked together. Everyone was surprised when Luis assigned Calla as his own co-pilot, saying he was most impressed by how much she had learnt in such a short time and how he looked forward to teaching her more about the subtleties of deep space ship management and monitoring.

"Deep space what and who?" Calla had said when she was told.

"It means not hitting anything or blowing up the ship" Blue explained.

"Well why didn't he just say that?" she huffed.

April waited a few days until Luis finally started to relax into routine before she really started to talk about seriously things during their evenings together. It would not be easy, but she knew the time had come to tell him some news.

"We need to talk."

It was not always the best way to start a conversation, and hearing those words did make Luis feel a little anxious as he put his toothbrush away.

"Is everything alright?" he started jumping to conclusions "Is it the baby?"

"The baby is fine as far as I can tell" April said comfortingly "but I must admit though, pregnancy feels different now the gravity is higher."

"We're only at forty two percent" Luis noted.

"Believe me, I can feel it" April smile "But sit down because I've got something important to tell you."

The term 'Something Important' set Luis's mind racing; especially after talking about pregnancy.

"Is it twins?" he asked.

"It's not twins" April stated.

"Triplets?"

"Will you shut up and listen?" April snapped.

"Sorry dearest."

"It's about your father."

Luis looked confused; he was so young when he had lost his father, he could hardly remember anything much about him.

"Olive Roux told me some very interesting things before I left Mars, and one of them was that your father is still alive."

"No... it can't be true" Luis gasped.

"There's more" April continued "Apparently he changed his name to Henry Deming."

She stopped to let her words sink in.

"Deming... but you knew this man" Luis realised. "I remember you telling me of your friends on the ship, Willow, Sidney and the others; he was one of them."

"Yes and he was one of the people who raised our son; Blue didn't know it at the time, but he was with his grandfather while was growing up in the Railgun Complex."

Luis sat silently and tried to remember something about his father, but very little came to mind.

"We'll have to tell Blue" April said as she rested her head on Luis's shoulder.

'Yes... yes; lets us go and speak to the children about it" he replied as he took her hand.

Like many people, when Blue had something on his mind, he would just sit and stare out of the window while he pondered life. Staring out the window was no problem in the central core of the ship, but sitting was another matter completely as he floated a few inches above the chair. He considered strapping himself in, but it seemed like a silly thing to do. Hearing about his grandfather had helped him to make a very important decision, but was now having trouble gathering the courage to talk to anyone about it; in the end he knew he would just have to try.

Climbing back down to the gravity ring, he steeled himself as he strode over to Calla's quarters and knocked on the door.

"Come in" she called out but when Blue opened the door, he was surprised to see she was not alone.

"Aren't you supposed to be running the ship?" he asked Abigail.

"Saffy wanted to learn a bit about piloting so Ruth agreed to let her have an hour on the flight deck every now and then."

"Do you mind if I interrupt?" Blue asked "I need to talk to Calla."

"Should I leave?" Abigail checked.

"I think I'd be safer if you stayed" Blue gave a sheepish grin "Less chance she'll hit me with a witness nearby."

"Don't count on it" Calla grinned "I assume this is about Earth."

"You can read me like a book" Blue admitted.

"You're so easy to read, you're like a picture book full of two syllable words" Calla smirked.

"What about the Earth?" Abigail suddenly paid close attention.

"Your idiot brother wants to go back there as soon as we make orbit" Calla shrugged.

"You do?" Abigail said, wide eyed "Is this about that dragon thing you were telling me about?"

"No!" Blue protested "well... not entirely."

"What are you going to tell Mom and Dad?" Abigail wondered.

"I'm gonna tell them the truth; I think I can do more good on Earth and my departure will free up a space here for one of the more experienced engineers, so the 16 Psyche operation will go quicker and more people will be able to leave Earth sooner if I go back."

"So why are you telling us first?" Abigail wondered.

"He promised to give me plenty of warning so I could decide if I wanted to return to Earth as well, or stay here" Calla admitted.

"And what do you want to do?" Abigail asked.

"I don't know; I haven't thought about it yet" Calla answered "I'll probably stay though."

"I had a feeling you'd say that" Blue looked down at his feet "Time to tell my parents I suppose."

As Blue walked away down the corridor, he did not get far before Abigail hurried after him.

"Hey... leave it for half an hour before you go to see Mom and Dad" she told him.

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions, just do it" Abigail demanded "Hmm... I like having an older brother to boss around; it's so much more satisfying than arguing with Saffy."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself" Blue said sarcastically as his sister went back to Calla's room.

After she had entered, Abigail closed the door and spoke softly even though no one could hear them.

"I get the feeling you want to go back with Blue, but don't want to admit it" Abigail smiled knowingly at her friend from Earth.

Calla thought about objecting, but she could see quite clearly that there was no point.

"I've really painted myself into a corner, haven't I?"

"Paint yourself... into a corner?" Abigail pondered the odd saying.

"You know; if you're painting the floor and you start at the door, when you're finished you'll have nowhere to go and you can only get out by walking on wet paint."

"Why would you paint the floor?" Abigail looked confused.

"Yeah I suppose there are a lot of Earth things you'd never do on Mars."

"So you have painted a floor?" Abigail checked.

"Well no, but if the floor was made of wood, and you wanted to be sure it lasted for many... why the hell are we talking about floors?" Calla suddenly realised.

"Don't blame me, you started it" Abigail shrugged.

"I mean I've talked myself into a position I just can't back out of."

Abigail head tilted slightly to the left and Calla thought she looked like a confused puppy.

"Ah... painted yourself into a corner; I get it now."

"WILL YOU FORGET ABOUT THE PAINT?" Calla snapped.

"So you do want to go back?" Abigail stated.

"I don't know" Calla's head sank into her hands.

"Then it must be my brother; you don't want to be separated from him" Abigail's knowing smile returned.

The dirty look Calla gave to Abigail could have peeled the paint off the floor.

"SHUT UP ABOUT THE PAINT ALREADY!"

...sorry...

"It's... a lot of things" Calla admitted.

"Such as?" Abigail prompted.

"Well... I know my mother wants me to come home... and Blue is right about the engineers from the Railgun Complex. I mean yeah, I've learnt a lot about those machines when we worked on them, but I'm really just a glorified assistant, passing tools, turning screws and fastening bolts. Another qualified expert could join the crew if I went back to Earth" Calla pointed out.

"Is that all?"

Calla looked away; she wished what she had already said would have been enough to satisfy Blue's inquisitive sister.

"Okay I am curious about this dragon thing too. I mean... I don't really believe they exist, or ever did, but it is kind of weird that Blue should be mentioned in that old book. If he does go looking for the ruins of this Berk place, I'd like to be there if he should ever find it."

"I think I can help you" Abigail nodded "Come on; let's go see Mom and Dad.

* * *

 **Good news Vin; could see you were right so I came up with a different idea to end this story with an epilogue, but without touching on the next story. It should answer a question asked by a few readers from the start of the story as well.**


	86. Chapter 86

**Not certain yet but when this story is posted, the next one to appear will probably be a short in the Berk: Year One series. I've got the first chapter done and there should only be three-ish.**

* * *

Chapter 86

Sneaky Sister II: The Surprisening

Blue did just as his sister had asked and waited half an hour before going to talk to his parents, and was surprised to see Abigail and Calla were already in the common room waiting for him.

"We understand you intend to stay on Earth when we get back there" April said, looking very disappointed.

"Ah... so my plan to break the news to you tactfully while explaining my reasons has just flown out the window" Blue scowled at his sister.

"Don't be too upset with Abby" Luis said "It seems she had a very good reason to talk with us first."

"Yeah to give you time to come up with arguments against the idea" Blue continued scowling.

"No; because I want to go too" Abigail replied.

"You're not serious!" Blue gasped.

"I'm very serious" Abigail argued. "The last time we orbited Earth, I spent many hours staring down at the surface through the telephoto lens, dreaming about what it would feel like to walk outside without a pressure suit; to breathe the air and feel a genuine breeze on my face, and not just fan blow recirculated air."

"It was never part of our plan to see you leave and your father and I firmly believe it is far too dangerous" April insisted "That is why we are working so hard to bring more people off planet where it's safe."

"And you'll be able to achieve that goal much quicker if I do leave" Blue argued.

"Same here" Abigail added.

"Yes your sister told us of your plan to replace you with a few engineers, but I really don't think it is worth the risk of sending you into such danger" Luis said.

"The Earth still gets hit by meteorites on a regular basis; and it's only a matter of time before the big one hits" April noted.

"Blue knows the Earth won't be destroyed for a long time yet" Abigail butted in "And he won't get killed by a smaller one either."

"How can anyone know when...?" Luis began.

"Tell 'em Blue; tell 'em about the book" Abigail insisted.

"What book?" April wondered.

"A man named Maximilian DeGroot arrived in Sumatra on the same fleet as Calla and her family; I was surprised to find out he was actively looking for me" Blue revealed. "He had a number of really old books with him including one called The Book of Gothi."

"Gothi" April gasped.

"You've heard of her?" Blue asked.

"When Abigail and Saffy were younger, I used to tell them stories about the Dragon Riders" April admitted "these were the stories my Grandfather used to tell me when I was a little girl; he said they had been passed down from generation to generation. I only told the girls some of my favourites, like the one about the Dragon Master and how he was the first Viking to catch and ride a dragon, but Grandpa Gerwin told me many more stories and one of the characters in these tales, was a wise woman named... Gothi. I always remembered it because it was such an odd name; I even named my cat after her."

"Did he ever tell you about the time she took the Dragon Master to a mystical cave when he was just a boy?" Blue asked.

"No... I don't remember that, but it sounds like the sort of thing Gothi would have done... based on my limited knowledge."

"I read about it in the Book of Gothi" Blue revealed "It says she took him to the cave intending to show him what kind of man he would grow up to be, because he lacked confidence in himself; but when this was happening, Gothi says he also had a vision of his descendants. The book says he spoke to someone who said his name was... Blue Dias."

There was a silent pause for just a moment, till it was broken by Luis.

"Oh that just can't be true" he said.

"I'm not lying Dad; I really did see it in the book."

"But I mean... it must be a trick of some kind" Luis added.

"The book is over a thousand years old Dad" Blue tried to convince him "Its pages are some kind of animal skin and it's written in runes not used for centuries. While I admit it could be faked, I have more than enough doubts in my mind to know if I don't at least investigate it further, not knowing would eventually drive me crazy."

"Surely we can't let them go" Luis said to his wife.

April looked down and put her hand on her belly, thinking about the baby growing inside her.

"I wonder if we should even try" she said "Blue is only here because of the desperate need to save you and Abby, and although I don't like the thought of seeing him go, taking this young man, our son of whom I could not be prouder, and making him a prisoner of his own family upsets me even more. I always thought the safest place for any of my children was right here with me, but each one of them had to be born when the time was right; and in the same way I know they can't stay with us one hundred percent of the time. This was how I felt when I found out Abby had been promoted and going into space with her father. I complained and I didn't want it to happen, but I also knew it was right and I shouldn't try to stop it."

"Does that mean I can go too?" Abigail asked.

"I'm not sure I feel confident about you going to Earth when you're only fourteen" April argued "At least when you became a cadet pilot you were with your father, who had a lot of experience in what you'd be doing."

"But I'll be with my brother who has years of experience living on Earth."

"The gravity will be very strong" April argued.

"And unlike Saffy, I spent much of my time on Mars wearing weighted clothing; and until you insisted Dad slow the wheels rotation, I spent the last few months in an Earth level of gravity right here."

"I'm still not sure" April pondered "You'd be alright with Sarah at the Railgun, but if you go off with your brother to look for this cave..."

"How about if Calla comes too? She's my age and knows all about surviving in the outside world; she's done it her whole life."

Calla's eyebrows lifted so high, she almost ran out of forehead. So this was it; this was the way Abigail intended to help Calla change her mind without embarrassing herself in front of Blue.

"If you really need me to go with you..." Calla took a deep breath and nodded "I'd be happy to help."

"You'd give up your life in space for us" Blue smiled.

"I still intend to come back here someday, but I must admit; asteroid settlement construction would go even faster with three specialist engineers, meaning the rest of my family could get off Earth much quicker, and I like that idea!"

"I don't believe it" April gasped "I'm losing two of my children already."

* * *

As the distance between Earth and the MTV lessened, the conversation delay time lowered to just under twenty seconds, giving April and Luis the chance to communicate with Sarah Spencer at the Railgun directly.

"Don't you worry April, we'll take good care of Abigail" Sarah said reassuringly "I know the Linwoods will be pleased to hear about Calla coming home, and I'm over the moon about seeing Blue again."

"Will you be able to send up a few replacements for them?" Luis asked.

"Oh yes; the work on the Railgun has gone ahead with only a few delays so we'll be ready to launch crewed capsules in only a few more days. And we've got a fresh set of pods ready to send up when you reach orbit. There are new machines, parts for the ones already in use and a liberal amount of food supplies."

"I really want some hydroponic systems" April asked.

"You've only got half a pod full coming this trip, but the additive manufacturing units we send will allow you to make as many as you need in the long term" Sarah noted before turning serious. "So how big do you think the risk is that Redding will really send an armed force to take over down here?"

"We've got no way of knowing just if or when it would happen, but you've got to take precautions" April insisted.

"This is definitely beyond my level of expertise" Sarah noted "I think I'm going to have to ask around amongst the people from Captain Branson's fleet and find who has military experience. I know Jack Sumner does but he's away on the One and All."

"We'll do some visual scans of the Pacific when we make orbit and let you know if we see anything" Luis offered.

"And we've still got the satellites we were working on to track incoming meteors; maybe before we launch them, we could make them dual purpose to keep an eye on the surrounding area when they pass overhead" Sarah added.

As soon as the conversation had ended, Sarah leaned back in her chair and thought about what she had been told. Once a plan had been formed, she had Willow Pascal called to her office.

"What's up Chief?" Willow asked when she arrived.

"I'm breaking up your team" Sarah answered "Instead of leading one group, I need you oversee all the team leaders. We have to organise a priority list of what has to be done for continued Railgun construction, Human and cargo space launch readiness, along with area defence."

"Defence; are you expecting trouble?" Willow asked.

"More than you know" She replied.

"Do you want me to assign my people to other engineering teams?"

"I want you to tell them to brush up on their microgravity skills" Sarah revealed "When the MTV makes orbit, Amos, Jeana and Sid will be heading off to 16 Psyche."

Willow smiled in a way that made Sarah shiver a little.

"Oh I can hardly wait to tell Sidney where he's going" she smirked.

* * *

 **There is no doubt in my mind, I can learn a lot from the mistakes I made in this story. It has all the major parts in it that I wanted to include, but there were so many characters we could have had fun with if I hadn't tried to put this whole plot in the first book. Now I have to be sure to finish a story before posting, so each one will have to be shorter and this should fix the problem.**

 **As you get nearer the end, you may notice a few side tracks taken just for the fun of it, and I hope to continue along those lines in the future.**

 **Thanks for giving me so much of your time everyone, Marty :)**


	87. Chapter 87

**Could this be the world's worst combination Pun/Dad Joke?**

* * *

 **When Sue got home from work after a long and difficult day, she threw the front door open, staggered down the hall and collapsed face first onto the sofa.**

" **You look tired" her husband noticed "Would you like me to make dinner?"**

" **Hmmft" she mumbled through the sofa cushion.**

" **How about some grilled fish followed by crepes for dessert?" he asked.**

" **Yes please; I love crepe" Sue said.**

* * *

 **Do you get it? If not I'll explain at the end of the chapter.**

Chapter 87

Up a Lazy River

A few days later, the good ship One and All sailed over (yes over, not under) what was once the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge, before turning north towards San Pablo Bay. The relatively short journey of only a few days had been very tense because Carson Rake definitely did not trust the people he travelled with and they in turn did not trust him.

Adding to the tension were two indisputable facts; firstly the crew of the One and All made it quite clear that Rake was not to go below deck unescorted because of the fear he may try to sabotage the gun lifting mechanism, nor did they want him to know about the ships hidden sub hold keel fitted by the engineers from the Railgun. The second fact was Carson Rake still had reason to suspect that this was really a ruse by the people of El Centro to find the Raiders base and take out the rest of their ships with the One and All's guns.

As the ship moved through the mouth of the Sacramento River, Jack finally had one of his suspicions verified when he noticed a glint of sunlight from the high ground above the north bank.

"Someone's watching us" he said to Rake.

"You can be sure word has already gotten through to Sacramento; and I dare say someone has recognised this ship as the one that attacked us" the Raider replied.

"Attacked? I see you still can't tell the difference between attack and defence" Jack huffed "So what do you suggest for our next move?"

"There's a town up ahead named Rio Vista; I suggest you pull into the old marina on the port side."

"Is that where you keep your ships?" Jack asked.

"Ha! You're still a long way from our base and even further away from getting me to tell you where it is.

Jack left Rake standing near the bow and went to check on the readiness of the crew.

"All set for any trouble" he asked Marion.

"Got a spotter in the nest and I'm about to put on my deck ghillie" she replied.

"Good" Jack said and turned to Jose "Be sure you are seen by any people on shore, but don't make yourself to big of a target."

"Don't worry Jack" Jose grinned "I'll make sure nobody notices our secret weapon."

Considering the poor condition of San Francisco, the area around the Rio Vista marina was very well maintained, so it was obvious there were people living there even though none could be seen at the current time. The only thing that really bothered Jack was the old Coast Guard station they had just gone passed. There was a small steel hulled vessel not much bigger than the One and All tied up at the dock, and as he checked it out through a set of binoculars, Jack could not see anyone on board.

Carson Rake directed the helmsman to bring the ship in to a wooden dock just inside the marina but Jack refused to confirm the order, telling his crewman to tie up at another dock out on the river itself.

"I don't want to risk taking the ship in when I don't know the depth of the water" he explained.

"It's deep enough" Rake barked.

"Good to know, but I'm still not taking my ship in" Jack insisted.

With the gangway in place, Cid and Haley appeared from below deck and joined Jack at the port gunwale. Rake led the three ashore and the all walked to what appeared to be an abandoned building by the shore.

"Wait here" Rake said as continued forward another five paces.

"HEY... IT'S CARSON!" he called out.

"Have you brought those bastards here to sink the rest of our ships?" a voice drifted though one of the windows.

"They want to talk to us about calling a truce" Rake replied.

Two men stepped out of the nearest door and stood under the eaves of the building. Even though both their faces remained in the shadows, Rake knew instantly one of them was a stranger.

"What's going on here Lex?" he asked with suspicion "Who's this guy?"

"This is Neville Sage" the one named Lex replied "He came here a few days ago from the Mather Airport Compound."

Jack's ears picked up the much needed information about the compounds location, and at the mention of the newcomers name.

"Mather Airport must be the Hyperloop terminal" he whispered to Cid.

"What does this Sage guy want?" Rake asked blatantly.

"I've come here to offer help" Sage declared.

"Is he going to give back the people we lost; the friends we thought were dead?" Rake gave up the information to early.

Jack and Cid tried not to let their panic show. They had not expected to see someone from the Bunker here and when Rake revealed what they had discovered from Professor Adisa, the element of surprise for their planned attack on the bunker was now lost.

"He already has" Lex said proudly.

Sage took a step forward and smiled graciously at the surprised group.

"You see my friends, I recently arrived from Mars where I was in charge of the security of the base as well as the entire planet. I discovered that former Prime Governor Redding had been up to some atrocious things and so I have deposed him and taken over. It is my intention to resume the evacuation of the Earth by taking over control of the only facility still able to send people off planet; the Railgun Complex in West Sumatra."

Jack started to turn slightly pale but Carson Rake was quite excited. Not only would they not have to fight to get their friends back, but it looked like the years of struggle could be coming to an end.

"How about the people from the El Centro area" Cid cried out "Have they been released too?"

"They can be" Sage said smugly "but first there are still people here who would like to keep the means to leave Earth for themselves; the people who brought professor Adisa here for example."

Rake turned around and gave Jack a very dirty look. He felt as if his mistrust of these people had been justified.

"You knew about this and where not going to tell us" he accused "You were going to send us to attack the compound as cannon fodder and then leave when you'd gotten your friends back."

"That guy is lying" Jack declared "When the Railgun is rebuilt, everyone will be given the chance to evacuate. The only reason we didn't say anything is that it isn't ready yet."

Sage smugness rose to an elite level as he took the advantage.

"I was willing to let everyone know about it, but who can say if you would have ever owned up" he said.

"I know the people in Sumatra" Jack declared "and there is no reason for you to try and take over; just let Doctor Spencer know you want to be part of it the evacuation and..."

"And what?" Sage interrupted "And join the line behind you and the rest of the world? Wait for another twenty years while friends and family die all around us? I think these people have waited long enough."

"But Doctor Spencer has only recently had the means to send people off world; she and her team have been waiting just as long as we have."

"And if I let them go first, who will be left with the expertise to send the rest of us?" Sage argued.

"Most of the people I met do not intend to leave at all" Jack said proudly "They have already dedicated their lives to the Mars Project and intend to keep going as long as they are capable."

"And you believe them?" Sage laughed "How foolish can you be?"

"And why should we believe the crap you're spouting" Jack said accusingly.

"I CAME BACK HERE FROM THE SAFETY OF MARS TO HELP YOU PEOPLE" Sage barked out "AND I INTEND TO SAVE AS MANY PEOPLE FROM EARTH AS I CAN; AND I WON'T LET ANYONE LIKE YOU, WITH AN OVER DEVELOPED SENSE OF PRIVILEGE, STOP ME FROM DOING SO!"

It was a shame none of the people present really knew what kind of person Neville Sage was. He could so easily accuse everyone else of having the same disgusting traits he himself possessed. Now that he had told Rake what he wanted to hear, Jack and Cid had no chance left to convince the Raiders to join with them.

"So when will you release the people taken from us?" Cid asked again.

"It all depends on you" Sage replied "I don't want to hold them any longer than I need to, but if you refuse to join us, in what is really a very noble endeavour, then I would be foolish to release ANYONE who would only turn around and fight against these good people."

"We don't want to fight them" Cid admitted "We just want to take our friends and go."

"YOU MEAN GO TO SUMATRA WHERE YOU WILL WARN OUR ENEMIES OF OUR PLAN AND ATTACK US WHEN WE ARRIVE? You must think I am very foolish indeed!" Sage growled.

"Time to make up your mind Carson; are you going to side with these devious people, or come with us?" Lex asked his friend.

"Of course I'm coming with you" Rake replied and strode up the dock towards shore.

"The rest of you have a choice to make as well" Sage noted "You can join me and be one of the good guys, or you can stay here as prisoners of war."

"We're not at war!" Jack pointed out.

"If you are not with us, then you are against us" Lex declared.

"Come on Haley, we're leaving" Cid decided.

Walking back down towards their ship, Cid made sure to stay between these argumentative men and his daughter. His care was justified when Sage gave a signal and a rifle barrel appeared in a window to his left. Little did Sage know, but the crew of the One and All were ready for trouble as Jose Garcia took aim through his telescopic scope and fired a warning shot at the window frame above the shooter's head. A shower of splintered wood fell down on the person hiding inside, forcing them to take cover.

Jack soon joined Cid and Haley as they ran back to the ship while on the shore, several other hidden gunmen forced Jose to duck down low and shuffle towards the bowsprit. Sage pulled his own pistol from his belt and took aim at the back of Jack's head but before he could line up and squeeze the trigger, the weapon was hit mid barrel.

He hurriedly looked around, trying to find where the shot had come from while avoiding the shrapnel from the other weapons around him as they too were destroyed by the hidden offender.

"Dammit, they've got a sniper" he hissed and took cover.

Back on the ship, Jack and Cid heaved the gangway aboard as two of the crew cut the lines holding them to the dock.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" Jack cried out superfluously as the ship was already turning about.

Sage made several attempts to make the raiders to fire on the One and All, but each time they tried to aim their weapons, something nearby was hit, forcing them to take cover once more.

"Have you contacted your ships?" Sage checked.

"Yes sir; they know what to do" Lex replied.

"Just make sure they remember to attack from the front."

"Don't worry sir" Lex smiled "they also know about the gun under the rear deck."

Sage held out his hands and was given a pair of binoculars so he could observe the fleeing ship.

"It's already travelling at full speed" Sage noted "How are they doing that?"

The auxiliary motor on a brigantine like the One and All, was only meant to help the ship manoeuvre when docking. To achieve its maximum velocity, it would normally have to be under full sail. But thanks to the modifications made before the ship left Sumatra, the powerful electric motors in its rebuilt keel gave the ship a sudden and uncommon acceleration.

"Well that was an unmitigated disaster" Cid declared "Who was that guy?"

"Neville Sage; he was a Commander in the navy when I last saw him" Jack revealed "He use to do a lot of secret black ops stuff for the Mars Project officials, but I didn't know he'd actually gone to Mars in the end."

"So would he really come back to help resume the evacuation?" Cid wondered.

"Not a chance; he could have contacted Doctor Spencer from orbit and co-ordinated a resumption of Earth evacuation from there. My guess is either he was sent to stop Sarah from going ahead with her plan, or more likely he did not want to return to Earth and is desperate to get off it again. Either way I think the raiders are in for a nasty surprise if they throw in their lot with him" Jack noted.

"Dad..." Haley tried to get her father's attention.

"We'll never be able to raid the bunker now" Cid sighed.

"No; by the time we get back, Sage would be expecting us and have fortified the place" Jack agreed. "I'm afraid all our friends are trapped in there."

"Dad..."

"So what do we do now?" Cid asked in desperation.

"I have to head back to Sumatra and warn Doctor Spencer; I suggest you all come with us and we'll try to raise a force of our own. If we can stop Sage from taking the Railgun, then hopefully we'll be able to mount a proper rescue back at the bunker in the future."

"I don't like the thought of leaving anyone behind but..."

"Dad..."

"Sorry Haley, what is it Honey?" Cid turned around at last.

"Can you get me a bandage please?" she asked.

Cid and Jack were stunned to see Haley sitting on the deck holding her right leg below the knee while far too much blood flowed onto the deck."

"Oh this is bad" Jack pulled out his pocket knife and started to cut off the lower leg of her jeans.

Cid called down below for a medic but things soon went from bad to worse when the lookout brought a new problem to their attention.

"ENEMY SHIP TWENTY DEGREES OFF STARBOARD POINT!" he shouted.

Up ahead, the cruiser they had seen earlier had now left its dock and was now turning across the One and All's bow. As soon as the medic arrived, Jack took off towards the bow. The helmsman had anticipated what they needed to protect themselves and the forward Gatling gun was already rising up from below deck.

"What the hell... I thought you said that gun was on the stern" Sage barked as he watched through his binoculars.

"It... it was sir" Lex answered "They must have two of them."

"Well what else have they got?" Sage fumed "Torpedos perhaps? Surface to air missiles? Maybe a tactical thermo nuclear device on the side?"

"We err... we don't know sir" Lex replied nervously.

"Well if that ship starts to fly, I'm gonna kick your butt all the way from here to Sumatra!" Sage growled.

This ship did not fare any better than the last raider vessel to come up against the One and All. Jack knew if he left it in a repairable condition, it would surely one day turn up at the Railgun as part of an invasion fleet, so it had to be permanently disabled. The steel hull was strong, but was still no match for the concentrated fire of six rotating barrels capable of firing twenty millimetre armour piercing slugs at a rate of fifty rounds per second. With the assistance of the laser sighting system, Jack quickly opened up a half meter hole on the waterline before disabling the vessels fore and aft deck guns.

With the enemy ship disarmed and listing to port, Jack left it to its inevitable fate as he scanned the area for more unexpected attacks. Back at Rio Vista, Sage realised it was time to give up for now and regroup for later.

"Call off the ambush ships in the Carquinez Strait and tell them to hide themselves well" he ordered "The last thing we need now is to lose two more ships to those guns while we're still in preparation for phase two."

"I'll get on to it now sir" Lex nodded.

Downstream on the One and All, the entire crew was very nervous, but there was still work to be done.

"We've got a favourable breeze from the west" Jack noted "so raise sail and recharge the batteries. How much power did we use?"

"Twenty three percent sir" the Helmsman replied.

"Not bad; I'm glad we didn't have to drain them" Jack nodded and returned midship to check on their only injury.

Haley looked both brave and uncomfortable as the ship's doctor finished up wrapping her leg, but her father looked as white as a sheet.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked with concern

"It's just starting to hurt" she admitted.

"You didn't feel much at first because of the shock" the doctor informed her "I've given you a local anaesthetic so your leg should start to feel numb soon."

"Thank you" Haley smiled "But where did our cover fire come from? I couldn't see who was protecting us."

"Can you see that pile of coiled ropes on the foredeck hatch?" Jack pointed.

"Yes" Haley answered, wondering if someone may have popped up and fired from below deck.

"Okay Marion; you can stand down now" Jack called out.

To Haley's complete surprise, the pile of ropes got down from the hatch and came over to see her.

"Sorry I wasn't quick enough" Marion told the injured girl.

"Are you kidding?" Cid gasped "If you hadn't taken care of those shooters, I think we'd all be dead or captured by now."

"Agreed; take a medal out of petty cash" Jack smiled

"Where did you get that thing?" Haley asked about the suit.

"I've got a few of these for different situations" Marion admitted "It's a camouflage outfit called a Ghillie Suit; this one was originally for desert use but with a few coiled ropes and some old pieces of fishing net sewn on, I can lounge around on the ship's deck or on an adjoining dock, waiting for trouble while staying well out of sight of the enemy."

"Brilliant" Haley smiled "One question; what kind of wood is that hatch made of?"

"Hickory wood" Jack noted.

"So..." Haley gave an evil grin "you can hide on a hickory deck or a dock."

"Hickory deck or... oh... that's the worst joke I've ever heard" Jack rubbed his eyes.

"So shoot me... no wait... somebody already did" Haley smirked.

"I think I may have to give you a general anaesthetic if this keeps up" the ship's doctor warned.

The doctor wanted to take the young girl below but she insisted on staying on deck.

"Tell Haley all about your other weird suits while I talk to her father about some things" the doctor said to Marion.

Leading Jack and Cid up towards the bow, the doctor suddenly became very serious.

"I think she realises already" he told them "When we get back to San Diego, I'm going to have to amputate her leg below the knee."

"What? You can't; it's only a bullet wound" Cid said in desperation

"The bone was shattered" the doctor explained "It would take an experienced surgeon and a fully equipped operating theatre to rebuild it and we don't have either of those things. If I don't amputate, she'll almost certainly die of a gangrenous infection."

"She's only sixteen" Cid tried not to cry at the news.

"I'm sorry; there's nothing else I can do" the doctor put his hand on Cid's shoulder "Do you want me to tell her."

"No... I'll do it" Cid took a deep breath and composed himself before going to talk to his beloved daughter.

Jack had often regretted never becoming a father, but as he watched Cid and Haley talk and then hug, he knew this was one side to parenting no one should ever have to endure; so he vowed then and there, one day he would make Sage pay for what he had done.

* * *

 **Explanation of world's worst pun; "I love crepe" Sue said, sounds like "I love Crepe Suzette."**

 **I don't care what you think, I say IT'S FUNNY!**

 **Well... funnyish.**

 **Mildly amusing perhaps?**


	88. Chapter 88

**Sorry if I'm throwing chapters up too often, but now it's done I want to move on with other stories. FanFic didn't send me an e-mail notification about the last chapter going up so I hope all you followers got one.**

* * *

Chapter 88

What Do You Want For Launch?

With the MTV now only a day away, the time had come to start sending the next batch cargo container pods into orbit. Sarah Spencer looked very confident as she stood near the centre of the Launch Control Room listening to the people around her, expertly doing their jobs.

"Power flow nominal."

"Capacitors at 60% and climbing."

"What's the state of latest linked section?" Sarah asked.

"Good chance it will cope without any teething troubles" the technician monitoring power flows informed her. "Being only a cargo unit, we don't need to worry about pushing the latter sections of the Railgun if we have to make up for a loss in velocity."

"We're at T minus one minute Doctor Spencer."

"Open all external vents" she ordered.

Everyone in the general area knew the time was close when the latest round of launches would commence; so as the time ticked down towards zero, people everywhere stopped what they were doing and looked towards Mount Singgalang.

Ten kilometres south in the town of Padang Panjang, Fariz Amran held up his young granddaughter and showed her which way she should look to see the up and coming space shot. As they waited, Fariz could not stop himself from thinking about his friend Professor Adisa. He had been gone for several months now so Fariz just hoped he was safe and finding out the information he sought.

On a lonely stretch of beach to the west, Emerson Linwood and Peter Moke took a break from their busy schedule and stood on the bow of the giant tanker to get the best view. Ever since Sarah had learned there would in all probability be an attack on the railgun, she had placed one of the highest priorities on moving the most needed equipment off the ship and into the complex where it could still be used, even if they found themselves under an extended siege.

"Won't be long now and my sister will be landing on that runway just over there" the young New Zealander noted to the tall Samoan with him.

"Yeah we put a lot of work into that rebuild" Peter nodded "but it's worth it just to know we can bring anyone back here from space whenever we ever need to."

"I wonder how long it will be before me and Doom will get our turn to go up?" Emerson thought.

"Doom is ready now, but you still need a bit more training" Peter lightly slapped the young man on the back.

"I'm getting there" Emerson nodded "Besides; you and my other instructors have to take some responsibility for why I'm not finished training yet."

This sly comment made Peter throw back his head and laugh.

"We're teaching bro, but you just can't get your mind off a certain young lady long enough to learn anything. Funny thing is though; she seems to have no trouble putting you out of her mind during study time."

"Yeah... it's bit of a worry really" Emerson sighed.

"Aww she loves ya man" Peter smiled "She's just not as obsessed as you are."

Their conversation stopped when both men started to feel the ship vibrating as the surface of the sea rippled; it was as if the tip of a giant tuning fork had been dipped into the water.

"Here we go!" Peter noted as he turned his attention ashore.

A loud hiss caught Emerson's attention and he all spun towards the large cloud of dust erupting fifty metres into the air. In less than a second, another cloud shot up further in the distance followed by a third and a fourth.

As the line of small eruptions disappeared into the jungle, they both noticed that the vibrations were slowly dying away, but then came the sound that made the heart race. It could only be described as the sound of a short burst from a Gatling gun, constructed from the cannons of a World War II battleship (even though such a device would be a physical impossibility).

"And there goes another one" Peter smiled with satisfaction.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of these launches" Emerson noted, watching through a set of binoculars as the solid booster rocket ignited.

* * *

As soon as the Hyperloop pod arrived back in the bunker, Sage retired to Redding's old house to make plans. After he had worked at Redding's hidden computer for a few hours, he sent for his guards and told them to fetch Professor Adisa. They did as ordered quickly and efficiently, and they soon had the Professor sitting handcuffed to a nearby chair.

"This is a marvellous set up; I'm so glad the old fool didn't bother to hide it away before I shot him" Sage said.

"So why do you want me here; do you want to play Need for Speed on that thing?"

"Hardly Professor" Sage frowned "When I found this integrated control system, it had unfortunately timed out so I could not access all of its files and features. Not knowing the pass code, I had no other choice but to try my own access I.D. and was pleased to see it gave me some access, even if it was only limited."

"I assume that means you can only play Mah-jong" Linton smirked.

"It means that for all his faults, Redding knew some day he may have to rely on me to protect him, so he has given me access to all defensive... and offensive weapons."

"Ironic since you were the one who...did you say offensive weapons?" Professor Adisa started to worry.

"I did indeed" Sage was in his element "From here I can fire upon troops, an armoured column and of course, an air attack. Redding even has missiles that can shoot down a space ship in low Earth orbit."

"So what do you want from me?" Linton was loathed to ask.

"Believe it or not, you too have limited access to this system. Not as high a level of myself, but there may be information files you can get to that may be useful for me; unlikely but worth a try."

Sage walked around the Professor and unlocked his handcuffs before hoisting the old man up by the elbow and half dragging him to the computer and throwing him into the chair. Linton did not want to cooperate but he was concerned about being too obstructive with Sage. The memory stick containing a large number of Redding's private files was still hidden inside the Professors shoe; a rather obvious place but Linton hoped Sage would not have him searched again because he had already been a prisoner of Redding's for several weeks, and causing trouble for Sage could change all that.

"Type in you access code" Sage demanded.

It was no secret that Redding did not like the Professor, so it was highly unlikely Sage would discover anything useful, or of great importance. Hoping for the best, Linton did as he was ordered.

"YOW!"

As soon as the Professor has typed the code and pressed the enter key, the chair in which he sat administered a sharp electric shock. Sage could not believe what he had just seen as the old man leapt out of the offending chair.

"Oh that was priceless" he laughed "Just think; Redding that miserable old swine, set the whole thing up just in case you should ever find your way here and try to use his computer."

"Yes... yes very funny" Linton gasped as his heart raced.

"Oh lighten up Professor, you're not dead... yet" Sage continued to laugh.

* * *

 **I'm now getting to the usual stage of worrying what everyone will think of the ending (just like I did with the other stories). The good thing is though, no one got upset before so I have no reason to think you will now.**

 **Even so, I am now offering a 100% money back guarantee to anyone who didn't like the story. In order to qualify for the refund, please complete the following steps:  
1: Send me a truck load of money  
2: Write a detailed 1000 word critique of each and every chapter, detailing what you did not like about them  
3: Tell me where to send the returned truck load of cash (less transport and handling fees)  
4: Wait 4 to 6 ****weeks for delivery... or was that years? Decades perhaps?  
**

 **This offer is only open to readers silly enough to believe that I am a Nigerian Prince.**


	89. Chapter 89

**Hello!**

 **And so we drive on towards the end, with only 5 more chapters after this one.**

* * *

Chapter 89

The Evil That Men Do

The last few days of the journey from Mars had been very bittersweet for everyone onboard the MTV. When she first heard the news about her sister and brother leaving the ship, Saffron had been quite inconsolable, but a personal message from her friends on Mars had changed everything.

The new Citizens Council had decided to be more inclusive now that Redding and the Deep Council no longer held any sway over the population. All Martian medical staff had seriously looked into the risk of illness and disease associated with the possible arrival of more people from Earth in the future and without any interference, it had been a simple task to develop a genuine series of medical tests and an appropriate quarantine procedure for new arrivals. It was generally accepted that the only ones at any real risk were the people born into the sterile environment of Mars Base One and all they really needed was a good, strong immune system and some targeted immunisation.

The upside of all this for Saffron was that the families of some of her friends would eventually be joining her in the asteroid belt, because the Mars Council had authorised the construction of a bigger Mars Orbit Station, that would eventually be expanded to become a settlement in its own right.

The thought of one day being reunited with her friends cheered Saffron up greatly but even so, there had been many tears when the two sisters parted company. Abigail was still wiping her eyes as she strapped herself into the co-pilots seat of the Star Runner II, just in front of Calla.

"Looking forward to seeing you Mom and Dad?" Abigail asked as she tried to distract herself.

"Don't tell my Mom but I'm really looking forward to seeing Doom again" Calla admitted "I've got so much to tell her."

As the girls chatted, Blue floated into the small ship and stowed his gear under one of the unused rear seats.

"Hope you've both finished saying your goodbyes because we detach in under fifteen minutes" he noted.

"I've already visited the little astronauts room so we're all set to go" Calla grinned.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea" Blue thought as he floated back out again.

"Hmm... better safe than sorry I suppose" Abigail agreed as the unbuckled her straps again.

Twelve minutes later, with all final business taken care of, the Star Runner II was released and floated free from the MTV. As acting communications officer, Calla made contact to verify their condition.

"Star Runner to Star Cruiser; detachment successful, proceeding with departure procedure."

Blue shook his head and sighed before trying to convince Calla that she should stick to convention.

"I really don't thing Dad likes it when you refer to the MTV as..."

"Star Cruiser to Star Runner; trajectory confirmed" the voice of Luis Dias came over the comms.

"Then again... what would I know" Blue resigned himself.

* * *

Down in the depths of the El Centro bunker, Professor Adisa once again found himself being pulled from his uncomfortable bed by a couple of excessively cruel guards, and dragged out of the overcrowded dormitory. He tried not to step on anyone forced to sleep on the floor due to the lack of beds, but with such low light and having only just awoken, he failed miserably.

He was usually taken to an interrogation room near the Colonel's office, but that night he was taken to Redding's old house. The grounds around it had changed considerably as trees, ferns and flowers had been replaced by the much needed food crops. Now that the main population of El Centro had fled, only a small number of people were permitted to work the farms outside while under heavy guard. For most of the people kept captive, fourteen hour days of work inside the bunker had become the new normal.

They worked long and hard both growing food and creating ammunition in the workshops, while those with the right skills were pressed into refitting an ever increasing number of ships. These were not like the raider vessels of recent years, but ships of war outfitted with military weapons plundered from bases up to one hundred kilometres away.

"Your friends in Sumatra have been rather busy" Sage noted when the Professor was pushed into the room.

"How do you know what they've been doing?" Linton asked, hoping Sage would not be too secretive.

"Believe it or not, I have found a small satellite system in geostationary orbit that I can use to monitor anything in Earth orbit; if they could see inside the atmosphere, Redding would have known about the tanker ship in Sumatra years ago."

"No that can't be true; any satellite in the vicinity of Earth would be smashed to pieces when the Sholf-4 cloud passed by" Linton argued.

"Yes I admit it is a mystery, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth" Sage shrugged.

"So what have you found?" Linton asked.

"There have been regular appearances of rather large capsules on the high side of Low Earth Orbit and when I track the trajectory back to their launch site, surprise surprise they all come from the Railgun in Sumatra."

"Don't you see Sage, you don't have to attack the Railgun; with so many launches taking place, you'll be able to get back to Mars just by asking."

"It's not enough for just me to go" Sage went over his plan again "If I want to make the Deep Council pay for trying to kill me, and believe me I really do want to make them pay, then I'm going to have to take an invasion force with me; and that means I have to control everything that happens in Sumatra. Now I wanted to show Doctor Spencer that I mean business by shooting down a few of her cargo pods. But unfortunately for me, by the time they are detected it is too late to launch a missile because they are out of range; on the up side though, now I have a new target."

"What new target?" the Professors eyes widened.

"The MTV entered orbit yesterday afternoon and while it is too high for me to shoot as well, it has just launched a small ship which is on course to land near the Railgun."

"You can't shoot that one down" Linton said desperately "It could be a crewed vehicle."

"Oh I can assure you it is" Sage grinned. "I have been able to monitor its communications and I believe it has the two brats who stole the MTV from me last time, as well as Dias's daughter who fancies herself as a space cadet. The thought of blasting them all out of the sky doesn't seem to bother me at all."

"I'll make you a deal Sage; leave them alone and you win" Linton gasped "I'll co-operate in any way you want and never give you any trouble, ever again."

"I am pleased to hear you say that Professor" Sage smirked "because that is what I expect from you... if you want to be sure that I will not have to do this for a second time. When we eventually get to Sumatra, you will confirm to Doctor Spencer that I am not to be trifled with, and the only way to assure she will be able to assist the people of Earth to evacuate, will be to allow me to take over the Railgun for a short time; four to five years I'd say. Once I have succeeded in taking over Mars Base One, she will be free to send as many others as she can manage."

"I don't believe you" Linton stated "I doubt you would let Sarah sent large numbers into space; you'd be too afraid they would amass a larger force to take you down."

"How stupid do you think I am Professor? I may let people go off planet, but when they arrive in Earth Orbit, they will be greeted by my army and they will go where I send them and no one except my soldiers will ever be permitted to be armed."

"You're going to try and rule the entire solar system... with Marshal Law?" Linton squinted "That's ridiculous."

"I'm not going to try" Sage sneered "I'm going to do."

"But that's crazy; how can one man hope to achieve such a massive undertaking?"

"Oh I wouldn't have a hope if it were not for two things; firstly the Sholf 4 meteors destroying the entire old world government system, and secondly Redding and his Deep council doing all the hard work. All I have to do now is use what they have built and I'll never have to worry about people like Florian Klein having power over me ever again."

"Is that what this whole business is really about?" Linton shook his head.

"None of the Deep Council members had the guts to really keep order" Sage sniffed "They just wanted to feel important; but Redding was the one with the real power. He thought he could just let his underlings have their fun while doing his bidding, but the death of his grandson proved he was wrong; I intend to be a lot more careful when it comes to sharing power."

"In other word, you won't" the Professor noted and Sage just smiled.

Professor Adisa had made sure not to stare at the large screen behind Sage during their argument. An intercept countdown had already passed zero and was now counting up to the time when the small ship would pass through the range of Sage's missile. Linton just stared at his foe, willing him to rant on for another twenty five seconds, when Calla and the Dias siblings would finally be safe.

"It's been fun watching you try to distract me" Sage said with a smile "If you're wondering why I'm not rushing over to launch the interceptor missile, you'll be sorry to hear it has already set to fire at the optimum time when there is four seconds remaining in the launch window."

Professor Adisa felt the pressure building on his heart, as if metal bands were being tightened around his chest. His breathing shallowed and he soon reached the point where he could stand it no longer, so he turned his head to look as the monitor screen. He soon realised Sage was telling the truth; for as the clock counted down from six, a soft vibration shook the building and a few seconds later, the powerful missile blasted out of its hidden silo and into the sky, tracking its way inevitably towards the small ship in orbit.

* * *

 **I watched the recent launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket with great interest and was surprised to hear reports that a lot of people were angry about Hugo Drax... sorry, I mean Elon Musk... launching his Tesla Roadster into space. They apparently believe there should have been a more useful payload put on top, but these people forget one important detail; IT WAS THE FIRST TEST FLIGHT OF A NEW ROCKET!**

 **Until the 'Car in Space' idea came up, the original payload was to be the same kind of simulated payload mass as was used in the past. When rockets are tested, the mass they carry can be as simple as a big lump of lead, concrete or even a tank of water. If one of these mass simulants had been used on the SpaceX FH, no one would have known, no one would have cared and no one would have been angry about there not being science on board.**

 **Note; TESTING THE ROCKET WAS THE SCIENCE (well... engineering at least) so why not have some fun on the side?**

 **Who knows; maybe some early rocket tests also had joke payloads... like a Snoopy doll in a space helmet or an Astronaut Barbie (the doll, not a bar-b-que).**

 **Sometimes we just have to face up to it; some people are simply boring.**


	90. Chapter 90

**Hi there.**

 **Story continues here, then a big rambling rant about stuff at the end.**

 **Thanks for coming back for more, I really appreciate it.**

* * *

Chapter 90

If Only We Had Some Marshmallows

"Isn't that where we're going?" Calla asked as she glanced out the window and saw the Indonesian coast.

"Yup, and on the next orbit we'll be far enough to the southwest for us to drop out of orbit and glide straight into West Sumatra" Blue answered.

"Oh I see" Calla nodded as she continued to watch the surface of the Earth roll by.

Blue and Abigail continued on with the re-entry checklist, bringing each required system online in the correct order, and as needed. Having done the same thing many times on the simulator back in the Railgun complex, Calla knew it was a task that commanded great concentration, so she was loathed to interrupt anymore; but she soon felt it was important for her to do so.

"Should we be worried about that?" she pointed at the distant light moving up and arcing towards them.

Blue just stared at the strange sight for a few seconds and thought exactly the same way as Calla; was it something he needed to be worried about? The answer came in a frantic message from Jarred Kinderman.

"Star Runner we've picked up a bogie on our screen and it appears to be headed in your direction. It is urgent that you take immediate action to avoid a collision."

"There is no way in hell that this is a coincidence" Blue scowled "Whatever that thing is, we are being targeted."

"What do we do?" Calla gasped as Abigail and Blue started turning off safety systems and arming the manoeuvring jets.

"We get out of the way... fast" Abigail answered.

"Make sure your belts are tight" Blue warned "De-orbit burn procedure in three, two, one!"

Three of the small nozzles on the front of the ship fired, slowing the vehicle and dropping the nose. The ship turned about and was soon flying backwards, enabling Blue to fire the rear boosters to slow it even more.

"I think you over did it" Abigail noted "We're dropping a bit too fast."

"I'd rather take the risk of coming in hot, than get blown to bits" Blue replied.

"Agreed!" Calla nodded.

"Bogie has altered trajectory and is still on a collision course" Jarred's voice came over the comms.

"Time to go for broke" Blue decided.

He used the manoeuvring jets to turn the ship back towards the Earth at a rough forty five degree angle. He then fired the rear boosters for a second time, pushing the ship down at a much higher velocity. The offending missile had already risen up in front of the Star Runner but now had to re-correct its course to bring itself down on top of the rapidly descending ship.

"M-mother would not approve of t-this" Calla declared as everything started to shake violently.

The saying 'Coming in hot' usually refers to the practice of landing a plane at a higher than desirable speed, but in this case, the rapid drop from orbit did succeed in cooking the underside of the Dream Chaser's nose quite considerably.

"You'll have to l-lift the nose... or we'll burn up" Abigail said as the ship began to glow.

"C-couldn't ag-gree m-more" Blue replied.

As the ship was pulled back, exposing its black heat shield to the thickening atmosphere, a large ball of superheated plasma surrounded the vessel, making it an even bigger target. But as the missile closed to within five kilometres, the outside of the plasma envelope appeared to its proximity sensors to be the hull of the ship; and so less than a second later, the missile exploded barely twelve hundred meters above the Star Runner.

If the missile had succeeded in closing from the front, the explosion would have torn the ship apart but thanks to the Doppler effect of being behind a fast moving object, the pressure wave was compressed just enough to allow the shuttle to survive.

"WHOA; DID YOU SEE THAT?" Calla shouted over the loud vibrations.

It was then she noticed the disturbing looking crack in the overhead window.

"Err... Blue; we've got a problem."

"Where?" he asked.

"Above you" Calla responded.

While trying to keep the ship on course, Blue and Abigail took a few quick glances at the jagged lightning shaped crack.

"It's a multi layered panel so it should hold together" Abigail noted.

"Please baby; hold together" Blue begged the ship.

Over on what was now being called the Star Cruiser, everyone on board held their collective breaths as they impatiently waited for some word from the small shuttle. Frightened tears flowed down Saffron's face as she held on tightly her mother's arm.

"As soon as you get the chance, try and find out where we are" Blue asked his sister.

Abigail quickly pressed the touch screen to redirect the navigation map.

"You should have the tracker now Calla; what do ya see?" she asked.

"We're currently over Ecuador heading north northeast" Calla informed them. "We should re-enter somewhere over Haiti."

"That's no good" Blue noted "We'll end up touching down in the North Atlantic, way too far offshore to swim to Canada."

Much to his sister's surprise, Blue twisted the control yoke to port, bringing the shuttle around in a wide arc.

"Are you nuts?" she stated "The side of the ship can't handle these kinds of temperatures."

"We have to find somewhere to land" was Blue's only answer.

The small ship continued to shake and twist as it slammed into the atmosphere, while everyone up in orbit watched and waited during the seemingly endless communications blackout.

"How much longer?" April asked impatiently.

"Should be about another one minute and fifty seconds" Luis replied as he continued to monitor the comms system.

With glacial slowness, the chronograph continued to count down the seconds until the Star Runner had passed through the upper atmosphere. Once the ionized gas surrounding the ship had dissipated, they would be able to make radio contact with the small shuttle once again.

"Did they survived the explosion?" Saffron asked, seeking reassurance.

"I'm sure they did honey" April tried to smile "Jarred says he could still see their ship on radar and it looked intact."

She did not want to admit to herself that the only thing Jarred had been able to confirm, was that the radar image appeared to have a similar mass to what the ship had before the missile explosion. The small group continued to wait, not wanting to talk just in case they missed a call from the Star Runner II. Meanwhile inside the Railgun Complex, all they could do was listen in and hope for the best. No one could understand how or why somebody on Earth would feel the need to shoot at a returning spacecraft.

"Sumatra calling MTV; is there any news?" Sarah asked.

"Negative; standby" Jarred replied.

While Jarred continued to monitor for the small spaceship electronically, Luis stuck with the old fashion method of using his eyes. He followed the track of the glowing ship closely as it plunged deeper and deeper into Earths thick atmosphere. Eventually the glow dissipated so Luis could at last see the shape of the intact ship through the telephoto lens.

"THEY MADE IT!" he cried out "They've even made a course correction... and should be landing in the southwest United States."

The Star Cruiser tried to initiate contact with the missing shuttle by sending out a call every thirty seconds for the next fifteen minutes, but with each transmission went inexplicably unanswered.

"I can't believe this has happened" Sarah said to Doctor Quill Vieira.

The Railguns medical head placed his hand on Sarah's shoulder and spoke softly in her ear.

"At least we know they're okay; if the shuttle has altered its direction, then it must be under manual control. Now with your permission, I'll recall the medical team waiting at the runway."

Sarah Spencer tried to smile as she took a deep breath and nodded in agreement.

"Call if you need me" Quill said as he turned and left.

* * *

As attempts at communication continued for the next hour, down on the western edge of a dry lake bed in Kern County Southern California, Abigail Dias closely examined the small shark fin style antenna on the upper hull of the Star Runner II.

"There's no doubt about it now" she called to Blue and Calla as they watched from the ground "The communication transceiver antenna is totally cooked. Still... how great is this? Standing outside in the bright sun without a pressure suit; WAHOO this is fantastic!"

"I'm glad you like it, but I am sorry for burning out the coms system with that sharp turn during re-entry" Blue said to the girls "I didn't mean to cut us off from everyone."

"Well all things considered, although I wish I could let my family know I'm okay, being here with no radio is better than better than sitting on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean" Calla nodded. "By the way... where is here?"

"Edwards Air Force Base in California" Blue told her "This is one of the places they used to land the old Space Shuttle around the turn of the last century."

"I suppose the real question is where do we go from here?"

Before Blue could even consider an answer to Calla enquiry, they were both interrupted by a cry of panic from the top of the Star Runner II.

"WAH... AAH... NO... SOMETHING'S ATTACKING ME!" Abigail cried out.

Blue turned around with his heart racing, expecting to see his poor sister being torn limb from limb by a pack of wild dogs, but all he saw was a young girl waving her arms about while trying to protect her face. Abigail dropped down onto her rear and slid down the outside of the shuttle before rolling off the leading edge of the wing. Blue and Calla didn't quite catch her, but they did manage to break her fall and they all ended up on the ground.

"What is it?" Abigail cried as her attacker continued its assault "Why won't it leave me alone?"

"It's a fly" Calla told her friend "and this is what they do."

"Ugh... how do I get rid of it?"

"Just relax and wave your hand at it when it bothers you" Blue said "It'll go away eventually."

"Oh this is horrible" Abigail gasped "How many of those foul beasts are there on Earth."

"Billions" Calla said.

"Billions of billions" Blue corrected.

"Oh yuk... how do you live with them?"

"Don't worry Abigail; they don't eat much" Calla smiled.

"Well I suggest we grab everything we need from the Star Runner and head over to the old Air Base" Blue changed the subject "We may find some people there but if not, there's bound to be a place to spend the night."

"Don't you think we should stay with the ship?" Abigail asked.

"No Blue is right" Calla nodded "It may be warm now but it can get pretty cold in places like this at night, so we'll want to find shelter and hopefully build a fire."

"Okay... I suppose you know what you're doing."

"Don't worry Abby" Blue put his hand reassuringly on his sister's shoulder "Calla has a lot of experience in the great outdoors."

"Yeah you have two choices" Calla insisted "Listen to me, or die the death of a thousand flies."

"You are joking... aren't you?" Abigail asked as Blue handed out the gear sacks.

Calla lead the way as they commenced the long walk to the north side of the old airbase, but Abigail was more concerned by the lack of an answer to her last question.

"Please tell me you are joking!"

* * *

 **In the past I have always used the same writing method, which is this; Keep going until you get to the end, and then stop. By doing this, the story would stay quite fluid and little bits of character development, humour or romance could be melded in along the way. But after my health scare last year, I went in a different direction by writing out the rest of the story in paragraphs of five to ten words and then building up each chapter while already knowing what would happen at the end of each one.**

 **I can now see working that way meant the story lost a bit of its flare and for that I am sorry, but I wanted to finish it just in case something else happened, medically speaking. The good news is once the story was finished, I had quite a few chapters still un-posted so I went back to this one and re-wrote the last five chapters several times to try and get the old mojo back.**

 **Hopefully it worked.**


	91. Chapter 91

**As this is the first part of an ongoing tale, I always knew the last few chapters would have to leave some characters with their stories left open, even though I don't enjoy doing such things. To make up for this, I've decided to post two chapters today so readers are not left with a bad taste.**

* * *

Chapter 91

Go On Without Me

A genuine veil of despair hung over the ship One and All as they made their way south for the next two days. Upon arriving, anyone with medical or first aid experience was pressed into service to help as Haley was stretchered ashore. While the doctor performed his unenvious task, Jack and Cid met up with Smit and Shifty on the refloated raider vessel.

"By the looks on your faces, I'd guess things did not go well" Smit sighed.

"That would have to be the understatement of the year" Cid agreed "Not only did we fail to get help from the Raiders, but Haley got shot and as is having her left leg amputated as we speak."

"WHAT? NO!" Shifty cried out and ran to the dock.

Cid and Smit tried to call him back but he wouldn't be persuaded to wait.

"The doctor wouldn't let me stay with her so I don't think Shifty is going to get very far."

Smit wanted to comfort his lifelong friend but knew there was little he could say that would help. The news about Cid's daughter only made what Smit had to tell them much worse.

"Sorry to do this to you, but I don't have anything to lift your spirits" Smit began.

"And so it goes from bad to worse" Cid sighed "So what happened down here while we were gone?"

"When the time came to swap shifts at the bunker, we came up with a plan to get last week's group out without sending any new people in. We only sent four people in two trucks full of damaged machinery, intending to tell the guards we didn't have enough working trucks to do the swap in one hit. The plan was to tell them we would take the old group back to El Centro first, and bring the new people up later in the afternoon. All the other working vehicles were packed up and ready to head off as soon as we were all together again."

"Sage would have made it back to the bunker in the Hyperloop when we were still passing through San Francisco Bay" Jack noted "The guards must have been expecting trouble from the start."

"You're not wrong there" Smit nodded "When both trucks returned to El Centro, they weren't carrying our people, but instead they had armed bunker guards and raiders. Most of us got away but some of the people we' brought back from the northern end of the settlement were captured."

"Another disaster!" Cid threw his hands up.

"So Sage has the Bull Ant now" Jack realised "Well I suppose we won't need it anymore."

"Actually... I don't know where the Bull Ant is" Smit admitted.

"But you were on it?" Cid noted.

"Well yes but... that weird guy DeGroot, he kind of... stole it" Smit admitted.

"How the hell did he... more to the point, why would he steal an old railway car on caterpillar tracks?" Jack wondered.

"I can't tell you why but as to how, he said you told him to be useful so he volunteered to take a lot of driving shifts. I was happy to let him because it freed up the rest of us to go out in the pickup trucks and check the surrounding farms. Most of the people we found were okay and had already started rebuilding, so we told them all what we'd learned about the bunker, as well as our plans to leave. After we'd reached the northern end of the settlement, DeGroot offered to drive the Bull Ant back by himself, because we could return to El Centro much quicker in the trucks. The next day, I estamated he should be close to my farm, so I decided to check on his progress when I went to grab the last of my gear. To my surprise though, I didn't see him on the road so I kept driving north till I reached the place we'd left him between Rockwood and Calipatria; and when I got there... he was gone. I figured he just kept heading north for some reason, but I didn't want to waste any more time or fuel looking for him. It was soon after I got back to El Centro that we had to make a run for it."

"Reed always said he was a strange little man" Jack shook his head.

"Do you think we should try and find him?" Cid asked.

"Hell no!" Jack replied "If he wants to run away, then I say goodbye Mr. DeGroot. Besides if we go back to El Centro, we run the risk of more of us being taken by the bunker guards."

"Looks like we've got no choice" Smit noted "We have to keep running."

Cid sighed as his head dropped; he could not believe it had come to this.

"I'll go see the doctor about when we can move Haley, while you get ready to go" he said and turned away.

* * *

Down in the depths of the bunker, Reed Branson was having an even worse time than Cid. While Professor Adisa was forced to watch from the next room, Branson had been tied to a chair and beaten. Now with a badly swollen eye and blood running from his nose, Sage finally began to speak.

"I suppose you think you're very clever, getting a message from the Professor out to your friends" he sneered.

"I'd feel clever if it was some great achievement, but the guards here were so slack, they made it easy for me to do a letter drop" Reed grinned.

The guards in the room looked guiltily at each other, wondering if a further punishment would soon be coming their way later.

"And now you have made life very difficult for me" Sage continued "I had hoped to unite these people together by rescuing them from Redding's grip. Then they could help me mount a surprise attack on the Railgun, but now the people of El Centro don't like me and the two groups still hate each other; also Doctor Spencer will soon find out what I plan to do when your friends get back to the Railgun. I should have killed you, so can you guess why you're still alive?"

"I assume it is either my sparkling personality or the fact that I look great in a swim suit" Reed replied.

"No it is because of that stubborn old goat watching through the glass" Sage pointed at Professor Adisa. "He needs to know that I mean business, and he needs to be more co-operative."

"Fat chance" Branson smirked.

"It doesn't matter what you think, as long as Adisa believes your continuing life depends on his co-operation, I feel sure he will do what I tell him to."

Sage gave his men a signal and they untied Reed before leading him away. He was taken to a locked dormitory, designed to hold only a quarter of the people now in it. Some of them were the people once thought to be dead, while the rest were there recent captives from El Centro. The few that recognised Branson wanted to help him, but were forbidden by the guards. Three of them had risen from the bed they sat on to give the injured man somewhere to lie down, but the guards would not allow that either so Reed was forced to lie in a corner on the floor.

Twenty minutes later, Professor Adisa was pushed into the room. He looked around until he spotted his friend and hurried over to him.

"I'm so sorry about this Captain" Linton said "I would have told Sage whatever he wanted if it would only have stopped him from hurting you, but he seemed determined to go on before he questioned me."

"What did he want from you?" Reed asked.

"Nothing yet, but he tells me when we get to Sumatra, I must convince Sarah to surrender to him or we both die."

"Professor we can't help this guy take over the Railgun Complex, so we have to face the grim fact; we are both expendable" Reed said.

"That's okay for me Captain because I'm an old man; but you..."

"I may not be as old as you Professor, but I've lived a hard life. Some of the worst parts of it were when I was leading the refugee fleet, taking them towards Europe with no real idea if we were doing the right thing or not. When you and Sarah took everyone in, you made a friend for life out of me and I will not betray you just to save my own life, and I don't want you to risk the safety of our friends in Sumatra just to protect me. I don't want to die of course, but at least I know everyone from the fleet is safe for now."

"If Sage heard you say that, I doubt he'd let you live for another minute" Linton noted "We have to let him think he can still use you as leverage against me."

"Fair enough sir, but don't go too far; better to die here than endanger everyone else."

"You're beginning to sound like a support actor in a B grade war movie."

"Excuse me a moment while I throw myself on this grenade" Reed smirked.

* * *

With the sun low in the western sky, Smit looked towards the hills, back towards the home now far too distant for him to see.

"It's hard to believe we're leaving so many people behind" Jack said as he approached from the dock.

"We may have been able to pull off a rescue if that Sage character hadn't turned up" Smit shook his head.

"No point dwelling on it now I suppose" Jack resigned himself "I feel sure we'll come up with a way to get everyone back."

Smit took a deep breath and turned towards the dock.

"Are we ready to go?" he asked.

"I think so" Jack answered as they walked back to the ships.

"One thing I was wondering; does the raider ship have enough fuel to get all the way across the Pacific Ocean?"

"I'm afraid not" Jack replied "but we've jury rigged a few sails and we'll follow the North Equatorial Current, so we'll make in the end; even if it is a slow trip."

"Thanks for lending us a few experienced sailors" Smit smiled.

"I'll make sea dogs out of you in no time" Jack nodded "Assuming I can get your son out his hammock."

The two men went to their respective ships and soon they had both cast off, and were making their way out past Point Loma and into the open ocean. Jack stood at the bow of the One and All, wondering if they had made a big mistake in coming here in the first place. But as he pondered the alternative of staying in Sumatra, he realised it would have only been a matter of time before Sage and his army turned up at the Railgun unannounced and caught them unaware.

"Hmmm... at least we know what he's going to do, even if we don't know precisely when he's going to do it" Jack said to himself as he stared off towards the horizon.

* * *

Down at the bottom of the Sierra Highway, the man made Lake Palmdale still provided a steady source of water for several families trying to survive by farming in the area. One of these people, a young lady with a wide brimmed straw hat, was indulging in a little corn harvesting when she heard a very strange noise. Three hundred meters to the south, something big was approaching and to her complete surprise, it turned out to be a battered old twin decked railway car mounted on caterpillar tracks.

As the odd machine slowly trundled past, the driver looked down and noticed the girl standing a few meters from the road in mild awe, so he brought the tracked beast to a juddering halt.

"Excuse me" he called out when the machine had stopped "is this the way to Lancaster?"

"J-just down the road a bit, on the other side of Palmdale" the woman pointed north.

"And can I get to 'East Avenue J' if I follow this road?" he asked.

"Err... yeah eventually... it's on the right... opposite West Avenue J" she answered.

"Thank you" the man waved as the massive machine started off again.

* * *

 **By the time you read this, the next chapter should already be up and the last two should appear before the end of the weekend. (exciting huh?)**


	92. Chapter 92

**Did you get impatient waiting for this chapter to be posted? If you said yes, I hope you are wearing flame proof underwear.**

* * *

Chapter 92

Tanks For The Memory

Taking food, water and a medical kit, the three stranded adventurers started to walk due west on runway 22 until they reached the edge of the dry lake. They turned onto a taxiway, intending to follow it northwest to the buildings they could see in the distance when Calla suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

"Why'd ya stop?" Blue asked but Calla just held a finger to her lips.

Everyone fell silent and listened until they all noticed a distant mechanical rumbling sound coming from the South Base just under a kilometre away.

"Quick; hide" Blue said and they all ran off the apron and into the sparse low bushes nearby.

The entire area was completely flat so the trio had no hope of hiding from anyone who sought them out, but it was obvious the clanking noise was now making its way towards their abandoned mini shuttle, so when it became clear that there was no attention being payed in their direction, they decided to make a run for the northern side of the base.

Keeping low and staying off the taxiway, they managed to put some distance between themselves and the large military vehicle making its way out onto the lake bed, until they finally reached the edge of northern apron. To their right was the ruin of the former control tower, but straight ahead were two vehicle sheds that looked like a good place to hide. Blue guessed the clanking vehicle should be at least two kilometres away, so they quickly made the final dash across the broken tarmac and entered the first building through a side door.

"Hmm... a fire station" Calla noted.

"How can you tell?" Abigail asked.

"The old fire trucks are a bit of a clue" Calla replied with a smile.

"Hey Calla" Blue called from a window on the far side of the building.

"Yeah?" she wandered over.

"That bigger building next to us" he pointed "Aircraft hanger?"

"Definitely" Calla nodded.

"I'm thinking we hide out in there and if anyone comes looking for us, we can get out on the opposite side. It would only take them a few seconds to get around a small building like this, but it would take a minute or two to get around that one, giving us a good head start."

"Good idea" she agreed "Just give me a minute to see if I can find anything useful here and then we'll get going."

"Right" Blue said and went to fetch his sister.

Abigail was studying the old trucks with fascination, because she had never seen anything so exposed before. None of the vehicles had an airlock and they all had thin windows that could be opened. As she looked underneath at the drive train, it was clear to see the truck would not last five minutes being driven through the destructive Martian dust.

"Come on, we're leaving" Blue whispered.

They met up with Calla by a door opposite the hanger, where she showed them what she had found.

"There was a tool box on one of the fire trucks but it was too heavy to bring, so I grabbed a few handy tools" she said as she removed her backpack and passed out what she had.

To Blue she gave a solid pair of bull nosed pliers and two screwdrivers.

"I thought you'd better take these because you know I can't be trusted with a flat bladed screwdriver."

For the life of her, Abigail could work out why her brother was trying not to laugh.

"Take these Abby" Calla handed her a pocketknife and a medium sized shifting spanner.

"This may come in handy if I have to defend myself" Abigail grinned as she unfolded a blade from the knife.

"Forget the knife" Calla advised "That's just a tool. You'd be better off hitting any attackers with the spanner; head, hand or lower leg, whatever is more accessible."

Abigail looked at Calla wide eyed. Blue had once said she knew how to survive on Earth, but the extent of her knowledge was now coming to the forefront.

"What's that handle sticking out of you pack?" Blue asked.

"Yeah I must admit, I kept the best one for myself" Calla grinned as she pulled the fireman's axe out to show her friends."

"What do you expect to do with that?" Abigail gasped.

"Cut firewood, break down locked doors, make people who want to catch me wish they'd never tried... and other handy stuff like that" Calla smiled sweetly.

Blue opened the door a crack and listened for a familiar clanking sound. When he failed to hear it, pushed the door open and looked around outside.

"All looks clear" he said "Since you have the universal door key Calla, how about you go first, I'll send Abby if you signal it's okay and then I'll cover the rear."

"No sweat" Calla agreed "but you can keep your hands off my rear."

"I only meant..." Blue started to defend himself till he saw the cheeky grin on Calla's face.

"Yeah, ha ha, very witty" he smirked.

Everything was quiet when the three took turns to run across the roadway to the other side, while the Leghorn Chicken of Short Journeys involving Road Crossings looked on approvingly. The hanger door hung ajar and Calla was glad she did not need to make unnecessary noise by using her new axe.

"Whoa... what kind of planes are these?" Abigail stared, wide eyed.

Calla looked around and did her best to answer the question, even though she did not know the exact names of each aircraft.

"Okay you've got Fighter Jet, Fighter Jet, Cargo Plane, Swing Wing Bomber, two Light Trainers, an Attack Drone..."

Calla stopped when her brain told her what she had just said out loud. Blue had been on his way to the southern end of the building to see if he could spot the machine that had made the strange noise, but when he heard Calla say Attack Drone, he went back to see it.

"It's bigger than I imagined" he said as he ran his hand down the side.

"My dad said they could fly halfway around the world" Calla noted.

"I wonder if this was the one..."

"It can't be" Calla answered before Blue could complete the question "Professor Adisa said he saw it destroyed."

"Oh yeah... I wasn't thinking. But it was something just like this that made us all think my mother was dead for so many years."

"Time to stop reminiscing and start planning" Calla interrupted "Now it's late afternoon so I think we should bunk down here, maybe hide in the cargo plane, and then tomorrow we start out for the west coast. Maybe we'll find a settlement on the way or maybe we'll have to get there by ourselves; but no matter what, we'll try and get passage on a ship going west or find an abandoned sailboat to take."

"We can't go out on the open ocean by ourselves!" Abigail declared adamantly.

"We can if we find the right kind of boat" Calla disagreed "All we need is something at least fifteen meters long, with a double sealed hull and..."

Calla stopped talking as soon as she heard the familiar clanking noise.

"How could they have found us?" Abigail said in a very frantic voice.

"They haven't" Blue tried to be reassuring "Whoever it is, they are probably just passing by on their way somewhere."

"But what if they come in here?" Abigail continued to hyperventilate.

"Just look at this place" Calla noted "No one has been in here for years."

"If you two grab the gear and hide as we planned, I'll go see where it goes" Blue suggested.

"Keep your head down" Calla said as she grabbed Abigail's hand and half dragged her up the open ramp at the back of the cargo plane.

Once they were safely inside, Abigail sat in the shadows and hid while Calla watched Blue through a side window.

"I'm sorry I keep panicking" Abigail said softly.

"Don't worry about it" Calla said comfortingly "Your brother and I both realise how new and unfamiliar this is for you."

The sound of the machine outside grew steadily louder as it drew nearer to the hanger.

"I just can't believe it's all happening again" Abigail said in a broken voice "When Dad and I came here from Mars, Commander Sage tried to kill us and we ended up going to the asteroid belt. Now when I think we'll be going to the Railgun in Sumatra, someone else tries to kill us and we end up on the other side of the planet."

Abigail was already feeling a certain level of nervous déjà vu, so if she had known it was the same Sage who had attempted to shoot them down, it would have truly blown her young mind.

"I've travelled across the planet before" Calla tried to be reassuring "Just stick with me and Blue and you'll be fine.

Outside the building, a strange machine that was nothing like Blue had ever seen before, slowly crawled up the same taxiway the three adventurers had just followed to the north side of the base. As Blue watched through a dirty cracked window, he saw something very disturbing.

"Oh no... it's stopped" Abigail noted as she felt another panic attack coming on.

As soon as the noise of the machine had died down, Blue made his way back to their hiding place to join the girls and let them know what he'd seen.

"It's some kind of giant military vehicle and there could be as many as a hundred soldiers on board."

"Oh my god" Abigail gasped.

"I only saw one guy though and he appeared to be trying to decide which way to go. It looks like he's assuming we either followed the taxiway north, or went west between the buildings. If he makes a decision and moves on we'll be fine."

"And if he doesn't?" Calla asked "I get the feeling you're not telling us everything."

"Two other possibilities" Blue shrugged "A platoon of men pile off that thing and start searching the buildings or... they come in here to park the Star Runner."

"They've got the ship?" Calla did some gasping of her own.

"Yeah they towed it back here; but there are a lot of hangers on this base so they may not choose this one."

As the trio continued to quietly discuss possible outcomes, they suddenly noticed someone was shouting very loudly outside. He was too far away to be heard, especially by anyone hiding in a derelict plane inside a derelict hanger, but the sound of his voice still made the small group very nervous.

"Do you think he's organising a search party?" Abigail postulated.

"It doesn't sound like it" Calla noted "It sounds like he's calling out to us. Maybe he's making treats because he wants us to surrender, or maybe he's simply asking us to come out."

"Stay here and I'll go check" Blue said.

Calla watched out the side window again as Blue made his way back to the side door they had entered through. He opened the door just a little and listened very carefully. Calla then saw Blue look out the door before returning to the plane.

"You're not going to believe this" he said.

The look on his face seemed to say that Blue too was having a hard time believing what his eyes were telling him.

"What?" Calla pushed him to tell.

"It's DeGroot" Blue admitted.

"The dragon guy?" Abigail asked.

"What's he doing out here?" Calla wondered.

"Wouldn't have a clue" Blue shrugged "Grab your gear and let's go ask him."

* * *

 **On the home stretch now. Just one more chapter followed by an epilogue.**


	93. Chapter 93

**Only 1 out of every 3 readers noticed there were two chapters posted last time and most skipped 91 altogether. I won't make that mistake again so the epilogue will be posted in a few days.**

* * *

Chapter 93

In to an Uncertain Future

Outside on the tarmac, DeGroot just wandered along the apron making so much noise, Blue decided the base must be deserted, simply because no one had come out to investigate the racket.

"BLUE... CALLA... WHERE ARE YOU?" IT'S ME MAX DEGROOT! BLUE... CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"I think they can hear you back in Sumatra" Blue smiled as the three came out from between the buildings.

DeGroot spun on his heels upon hearing the young man's voice and his face lit up when he finally set eyes on them all.

"Ah my young friends... so good to see you again; yes, yes it is. What took you so long?"

"Hello again Mr. DeGroot" Calla smiled.

"And greetings to you too Miss Calla; and who would this be?" DeGroot wondered about the third member of their party.

"Say hello to my little friend" Calla smirked "This is Abigail; Blues younger Martian sister."

"Ah wonderful" DeGroot clap his hand together "Always a thrill to meet another member of the Dragon Rider family."

"But I'm not a..." Abigail began but Blue quickly changed the subject.

"How did you know where to find us" he asked.

"Ah... yes... I assume that means you did not read all of the Book of Gothi, so you wouldn't have found this bit" DeGroot nodded.

"The Book of Gothi told you we would be at Edwards Air Force Base?" Blue gasped.

Even though he had already witnessed the predictive powers of Gothi's ancient writings, this new occurrence still made the hair on Blue's neck stand up.

"Yes... well no... not exactly" DeGroot beat around the bush "I found a passage that said you told the Dragon Master, that you had returned from the heavens to a place called the Sky Fortress of Edward the Forceful. It took me a while but I eventually worked out it was Gothi's mistranslation of Edwards Air Force Base."

"You have the book?" Blue was confused since he had left it in his cabin back on the tanker.

"Heavens no... no I haven't... but of course I had read it many times before I gave it to you."

"So where is Professor Adisa; is he still with you?" Blue asked, hoping to see his mentor again.

"That is a sad story" DeGroot frowned "A very sad story indeed."

"Don't tell me... he's..." Blue's breathing shallowed.

"Oh he's not dead... at least I don't believe so. The good Professor was taken prisoner along with your grandfather."

"Prisoner? Taken prisoner by who?" Blue asked.

"There is a bunker about two hundred kilometres south of here and I'm told it is just like your Railgun Complex. Prime Governor Redding is there and he is the one who is holding your friends. Captain Branson went in undercover to try and help but I don't know how he fared because I had to make my way up here to find you."

"We've got to go back there and help rescue them" Calla burst out.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that, oh no not at all" DeGroot shook his head "On my way here I've been listening to some very disturbing radio traffic and there appears to be a new man on the scene and he has been trying to capture the rest of the One and All crew, as well as Captain Branson's allies from a local community. From what I've heard, he has failed and I believe Mr. Sumner has taken the One and All, along with another ship they managed to capture, and have all escaped out to sea. I believe he is going to warn Doctor Spencer of this new mans plan to attack and take over the Railgun."

"If Mom had known about this, I doubt she would have let us leave the Star Cruiser" Abigail noted.

"So if we went to this bunker now, we'd be on our own?" Blue checked.

"Yes indeed Master Blue; but I doubt we would be free for very long. If we were spotted by any of Sage's forces, I'm sure we would end up..."

"Sage; did you say SAGE?" Abigail gasped.

"I understand that is the gentleman's name."

"DeGroot is right" Abigail looked very scared "If Sage is here and has some kind of army following him, we have to get out of here."

"I suggest we go east" DeGroot nodded "We can go up through Canada and then across to northern Europe."

"We want to go to the Railgun in Sumatra, not to Europe" Blue protested.

"Oh we will" DeGroot smiled "We just need to go the long way to avoid Sage's forces both here, and on the Pacific."

"You just want to go looking for the ruins of Berk" Calla said accusingly.

"Oh no, no... I mean... we may be able to pick up some clues along the way, but I fully understand that getting you back to Sumatra and then joining the fight against Mr. Sage, is the first priority. Who knows; we may find some allies along the way to help bolster Doctor Spencer's defences."

"Doctor Spencer's Defences?" Calla grinned "It sounds like a weird children's book."

Blue took the girls aside and whispered in a huddle.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I'm sure you can trust DeGroot to sneakily take us on some very time consuming side quests" Calla offered. "You know how obsessed he is about history of the Dragon Master."

"Maybe so" Abigail added "But I can't over emphasise how dangerous Commander Sage can be. I like the idea of going in the opposite direction to where he is."

"Right then" Blue nodded "Then we just have to get some ground rules established with DeGroot, and we can get started."

The huddle broke and they returned to the very anxious looking DeGroot with an ultimatum.

"We'll go east with you but remember this; Calla and I say where we go and how long we stay in each place; agreed?"

"Oh most certainly Master Blue; but err, what should we do with your shuttle?"

Blue looked fondly at the Star Runner II; the ship that had help him save his father and sister, and had very agreeably not disintegrated when re-entering the atmosphere at a steep angle.

"I can't see it ever being launched into in space again" he pondered "but let's stick it in the hanger anyway."

"Certainly" DeGroot nodded and led the group back to his odd vehicle.

"Hey" Calla said as they approached "That's not a tank; that's a train."

"It's a train on Bull Ant tracks" Blue noted "Where did you get those?"

"The Professor brought them with us" DeGroot answered "Before he was captured, he planned to travel all over the North American continent looking for answers about what had happened after the Railgun had been locked down, but it appears he got all he wanted from his captor."

They all climbed up inside the two story car and looked around. To Calla it was just another piece of typical junk she was used to finding on Earth but to Abigail, it was a thing of horror.

"Ugh it's disgusting in here" she declared as she perused the dirt, rust and mess.

Having seen the sterile environment Abigail was accustomed too, Calla came up with an idea to help her get used to her new life.

"When we've parked the Star Runner, I'll go and get the rest of the tools I found; and let's see if we and get this thing fixed up a bit."

"Good idea" Blue agreed "I'll see if I can find some salvageable furniture and maybe we can turn this into a nice little home away from home."

After parking the Star Runner underneath the wing of the cargo plane the team spent the rest of the afternoon carrying out Calla's plan. DeGroot pointed out the batteries needed time to charge up before they would be able to get very far so he suggested they move the Bull Ant behind the Fire Station where the solar blanket could be extended to get full sunlight, and then move on in two days time.

There was cleaning equipment in every building but the only useful things Blue found to take with them, were a few tall cupboards they could stack their supplies in, thus clearing floor space on the lower level. His luck changed though when he found the bases main storehouse and supply depot where he managed to procure mattresses and pillows still wrapped in plastic.

A few hours of sweeping, mopping and cleaning cracked windows, made the odd vehicle look much more acceptable to everyone; even DeGroot liked the changes. Calla then started working on ways to make the Bull Ant more secure while Blue and Abigail decided to raid the supply depot again for anything else they would find useful. As the sun was starting to set in the evening, Blue was loading up some boxes of liquid soap, air freshener and other bathroom supplies when his sister suddenly came running up in another panic.

"I'M SICK!" she cried "I'm diseased; am I going to die?"

"What the hell is going on out there?" Calla called down from the top floor where she was covering a broken window.

"Abigail thinks she's going to die" Blue shrugged.

"I am going to die, just look; my skin has broken out in puffy red lumps!"

"Well... one puffy red lump" Blue corrected "It looks like a mosquito bite."

"I remember learning about mosquitoes" Abigail whimpered. "I've probably got malaria!"

"What you've got is an acute case of hypochondria" Calla said as she climbed down the front ladder.

"You don't have to worry about one mosquito bite in a place like this" Blue tried to comfort his sister.

"Yeah; have a look at these babies" Calla agreed as she showed the three bites on her left arm.

"Oh what have I done?" Abigail sat heavily onto the ground "I'm not cut out for a life outside. I need a sealed home; I need a protective suit."

Sitting down beside the distraught girl, Calla put her arm around Abigail and hugger her tightly.

"We never thought these little things that Blue and I are so used to, would be such a problem for you; but try not to worry. You bent over backward to help me live and work in space so I promise to try harder to help you get used to the Earth. It won't be long before you'll be shooing away flies and swatting mosquitoes like the rest of us; you'll learn so much and have the most incredible adventures."

Abigail wiped her nose on her sleeve and tried to smile through the tears.

"I feel like such an idiot" she sighed.

"Join the club" Calla nodded "I've been feeling like that ever since I fell down the Railgun Exhaust Vent."

"But she got used to the changes and so will you" Blue said "Just give it time."

"Did I hear someone cry out in distress?" DeGroot asked as he carried two more boxes over from the supply depot.

"Must have been your imagination" Calla lied "Or maybe it was a Hawk!"

The Red Tailed Hawk of Unrecognisable Noises turned up its beak at the thought of giving an uncouth squawk for no reason at all. This human girl obviously had very little knowledge of bird etiquette.

* * *

Dream Chaser space shuttles were in very short supply at the Railgun; and so because Amos, Jeana and Sid would not be returning to Earth in the foreseeable future, they would be travelling into orbit to meet the Star Cruiser in a simple capsule. Amos and Jeana were both excitedly looking forward to their upcoming journey, but Sid was feeling rather apprehensive about the whole trip. As the three were being fitted into their pressure suits for the initial launch, Amos passed the time by making up some new lyrics to a century old space shanty.

"Ground control to Major Sid" he sang.

Sid shivered in annoyance at Amos's obvious mockery of his anxiety.

"Ground control to Major Sid" Amos repeated.

"Will you stop that?" Sid huffed.

Amos thought for a moment about what the next song line should be, and then it came to him.

"I like calamari, even though it's squid."

"I swear if you don't stop singing, I'm gonna come over there and stick this space helmet where the sun doesn't shine!" Sid threatened.

Amos thought again for another moment before checking on something.

"Barrow Alaska in February?"

"What?" Sid grimaced.

"I don't think the sun shines at all in Barrow Alaska during February; so I was wondering if that was where you were going to stick your space helmet."

"Just stop singing" Sid grumbled.

"About squid?"

"ABOUT ANYTHING!" Sid barked.

Amos sat quietly for a while and pondered life, the universe and everything.

"Spongebob Squarepants lives next door to a squid" he said.

"Spongebob's neighbour is an octopus" Sid corrected.

"But his name is Squidward!" Amos noted,

"And he's an octopus" Sid stated.

"Spongebob is a sponge, Patrick Star is a starfish, Mr. Krabs is a crab and Plankton is pretty much self explanatory" Amos pointed out.

"Pearl isn't a pearl though, she's a whale" Sid put forward.

"Whales eat plankton; so I wonder why Pearl never tried to eat her father's competitor?"

"She's the wrong kind of whale" Sid corrected again.

"What do whales like Pearl eat?" Amos asked.

Sid thought for a second and smiled at the answer.

"Squid" he admitted

"Oh man" Amos gasped "you just blew my mind."

"I hope you two aren't going to be like this all the way to 16 Psyche" Jeana warned them "or I may have to lock you both back in the capsule and tow you all the way there, behind the ship."

"We'll be good" Sid promised.

* * *

With every orbit of the Earth made by the Star Cruiser, Luis would visually scan any viable place to land an unpowered craft along the Star Runners last known trajectory. As the ship moved around the far side of the planet, he would scour the latest batch of high resolution digital images taken of the south western United States while everyone reviewed the ones he had taken previously. Their tenacious efforts eventually bore fruit when Ruth Kinderman found a small clue.

"There is something on the western edge of runway 22 down at Edwards Air Force Base" she informed the others.

"Has anybody else got any images of that area?" April asked.

Soon the crew had every last picture Luis had taken of the area in question and it made for some very interesting viewing. The first picture was a white outline on a highly reflective off-white lake bed but with each orbit, a change of angle and the setting sun showed their target in a different light. The crew were also able to see a large rectangular vehicle move closer and then start to tow away the thing they were trying to identify.

Luis zoomed in closer on their next flyby and the group were very relieved to see the very obvious outline of the Star Runner II now contrasted against the grey tarmac of the taxiway.

"That is definitely our kid's ship" Luis declared as April heaved a sigh of relief.

"While I'm overjoyed to know they made it down safely, I can't help wondering who it is taking the ship away" she said.

"We'll they are towing it to the base Honey" Luis pointed out "so it could be base personnel helping out."

"I know you're only trying to make me feel better" April smiled "but you and I both know that it is highly unlikely to be a standing, government backed military left in any country on Earth."

"We'll keep watching as long as we can and hopefully we'll find out more" Luis offered.

"Do you want to contact Sarah?" Jarred asked "I'm sure she'll want to know they are safe and where they are."

"Definitely not" Luis stated "If we do, whoever fired that missile could find out they failed to destroy it, and learn where they can find the shuttle; then they may try again. Best we just leave it for now and find another way to let Sarah know what's happened."

As they talked about possible ways to do just that, the navigation computer signalled Luis they were coming up on the site again.

"As well as taking high definition stills, I've set up a live video feed of the last known location of the shuttle" he said as he brought up the image.

Saffron took the closest position as everyone moved nearer to the main screen and watched intently. The image panned slowly as the ship moved overhead and as they approached the closest point, two figures could be seen pushing the small shuttle back towards a building by the taxiway.

"Is that them?" Saffron asked.

"Could be" her mother said hopefully.

The image became a little clearer as the ship in orbit became almost perpendicular to its target and April was able to recognise the colour of the T-shirt, Blue had worn under his pressure suit that morning.

"It's him!" she cried out with glee "It's Blue!"

"Are you sure?" Jarred wondered.

"Believe me; a mother knows" April nodded.

As the orbit started to take them away again, two more figures could be seen emerging from under the shuttle, where they had been pushing on the landing gear.

"That must be Abby and Calla!" Saffron said excitedly.

"Yes and whoever that is with them seems to be helping them" Luis noticed.

Indeed as the ship moved further away, April could see all four people casually come together to talk. After the stress of watching two of her children and their friend being attacked by a missile, it was comforting to know they had found a friend upon landing. At least he did not seem to be trying to hurt or restrain them and for now, that was all the comfort April could hope for.

From their box seat in space, Luis and April would be able to monitor the movements of their children until it was time to leave orbit and head out into the solar system once again. But before they did leave, a plan had been hatched to get all relevant information down to Doctor Spencer without giving anything away over the comms system.

As soon as the three new passengers arrived from Sumatra, April would send the capsule back with video messages about what she had learned from Olive Roux, as well as what Gretel Descott had said about her long lost brother, David Redding. Hopefully Sarah would one day get the chance to investigate the mystery, although no one knew where she should start. April also planned to send a copy of the video Luis had obtained of the lost children safely on the ground at Edwards Air Force Base; this would surely bring some comfort to Calla's parents.

* * *

Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Haley sat on a hatch cover with her father Cid as they watched the clouds roll by on what had turned out to be a beautiful afternoon, after a rather rough morning. Haley rubbed her left leg as a twinge of pain shot up through her hip. The pain seemed to be coming from lower down, but she knew that wasn't possible because that part above her ankle was made of wood.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait a few more weeks till the wounds have healed a bit more?" Cid asked.

"I may not be able to walk on it yet Dad, but I want to get used to wearing it and feeling its weight" Haley replied.

Cid could not express how proud he was of his daughter. Sure there had been emotional outbursts, but that was to be expected after the loss of a major limb. Most of the time, Haley just tried to stay positive and get used to the idea that even though her life had changed, it was still far from over.

"When it gets too uncomfortable, let me know and I'll remove it right away" the ship's doctor said to her.

It wasn't the best looking wooden leg ever made, but Haley was glad to have it so she could start her recuperation, and not just spend her time sitting around waiting to arrive in West Sumatra. Although they could not yet know for sure, Jack Sumner had said he was positive the engineers at the Railgun Complex would be able to make her a much better leg in the long run.

Back in the Sumatra Base, Jeffery the Jingle Cat sat beside Sarah as she lay on her bed, trying to nap after a very long and stressful day. Amos, Jeana and Sid were now safely away from the Earth and on their war to the Star Cruiser, and work had begun on fortifying the complex against an unknown future. The poor cat could not lie down and relax because unlike his pet lady, he could easily see the menagerie of birds surrounding them in the room.

The Pelican of Everything going Down the Toilet stood proudly by the door while the White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern and the Goshawk of Upheaval perched side by side on a nearby chair. The Ibis of Doubt teamed up with the Snow Goose of Suspicion on Sarah's dressing table, as they tried to stare down the Toucan of Defiance standing, as his name suggested, defiantly on the head of her bed.

Several other birds, such as the Ruddy Turnstone of Paranoia, the Snow Goose of Suspicion, the Southern Lapwing of Nervous Anticipation and the Raven of Despair, had all tried to find a place for themselves in the room, but the afore mentioned Toucan of Defiance had attacked and seen them all off; this was why the remaining birds were keeping their distance from the bed.

Sarah eventually managed to put her troubles behind her and drift off to sleep, totally unaware that she was being protected by one very determined Toucan.

* * *

After spending two and a half days in the deserted desert air base, the Bull Ant was finally ready to begin its long journey. With everyones help, Calla had created a rough but functional travelling home with separate rooms divided by canvas tarpaulins, storage for all their supplies, and an outdoor lookout platform on the roof of the railway car, complete with a round cast iron outdoor table bolted down and with a large patio umbrella sticking up from the centre. This modification would be handy as a place to fly the camera drone from while the crew of the Bull Ant checked the road ahead for trouble; true the vehicle now look like it had a flower growing out of its head, but it did provided a shady spot to observe from.

Of course everyone had to be on board before they could finally leave, but one of the group was missing in action. Calla eventually found her lost companion back in the aircraft hanger, looking fondly at the small shuttle that had brought them there. He seemed to be feeling melancholy as he ran his fingers along the leading edge of the lifting body, blackened by the heat of re-entry.

"Why do I get the feeling you really don't want to leave it behind?" she said softly.

Blue turned his head without removing his hand and smiled as Calla walked closer to stand alongside him.

"You can hardly see where I painted its new name anymore" she noted.

"Yeah the paint was not very heat resistant" Blue nodded.

There was a moment of silence between them and Blue felt he should fill it with an explanation.

"I just realised when we depart from here, I'll finally be leaving the last part of my old life behind" he said. "Even when we were millions of kilometres away in space, just knowing that the Star Runner was close by, meant we could go home whenever we wanted to. But now... I feel like I'm losing our last link with Sumatra and the people we left behind; for the first time ever, I really feel like we are alone in the world."

Calla smiled at the young man's confession of concern.

"Don't worry Princess" she said as she rose up onto her toes and kissed his cheek "Your knight in shining cotton will protect you from the big bad planet."

Calla had casually walked all the way to the door of the hanger before Blue inhaled again, but it was another twenty three seconds before he blinked. When he failed to appear back at the Bull Ant, Blues sister next tried to fetch him.

"There you are" Abigail declared "Calla told me I'd find you here with a silly grin on your face and she was right; what are you smiling at."

Blue did not answer as he turned to his sister, but the silly grin did grow into a broad smile.

"Would you prefer it if I were grumpier?" he asked.

"I would prefer it if you wouldn't smile like that; it makes you look like you are planning something."

"Not planning, just thinking about how surprising life can be" he smirked.

"Hmm" was all Abigail could come up with in reply.

"Come along my dear sibling" Blue said cheerily as he took Abigail's hand and half dragged her to the door "Let us go and be surprised by what the world has to offer us."

In one of its very rare appearances on Earth during these dark days, the genuine one and only Bluebird of Happiness fluttered out the door following after Blue, hoping to spend a little bit more time with the young man and his friends; at least for the foreseeable future.

FIN (finally... almost)

* * *

 **When 'How to Deal with a Seasick Dragon' was finished, I knew there was much more to write for those characters and this one is the same. As promised though, the next installment won't be as long.**


	94. Chapter 94

Epilogue

It was a fine day in the North Atlantic, but that did not mean in any way that the sea was calm. This fact was clear to see as the bow of the fifty two meter long fishing boat climbed yet another four meter wave before crashing down the other side again. The crew worked furiously to bring in the last catch of the day, their rough calloused hands hauling feverishly on the net ropes. Around the turn of the Twenty First Century, this entire ocean had been overfished by hundreds of huge commercial fishing fleets but in the last fifty years, the stocks of marine life had almost fully recovered; thus making it much easier to feed the large settlement of people on the Shetland Islands.

The high ground and sheltered inlets of the Shetlands had made survival a genuine prospect for all those who had fled there and its northern position meant most asteroids entered the atmosphere at quite a shallow angle. A direct hit would still be disastrous but thus far, the people had been very fortunate and only been forced to cope with the occasional atmospheric explosion or mild tsunami.

"It's getting very thick Skipper" first mate Mateo noted

"For the last time, shut up about the fog!"

The man in charge of the small vessel brought the bow a few more degrees to port, to line the boat up with the next wave. Each time he altered direction it caused more trouble for the men hauling on the net, but it did keep the boat from being swamped. With all the action going on around him, the last thing the captain needed was a skittish offsider.

"But the fishermen on the Shetlands insisted..."

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THOSE SUPERSTITIOUS SCOTTISH IDIOTS SAID, I'M TELLING YOU THERE IS NO DANGER HERE!"

"If you say so Skipper" Mateo backed off for the sake of his health.

When three Spanish families had arrived on the islands a few months ago they brought with them a wealth of seafaring experience and the fishing boat captains were all please with the way the newcomers had fit in with their current crews. Unfortunately for the English captain of this particular boat, his new man had taken some of the local inhabitants sea stories a little too literally.

"I'm sorry Mateo, shouldn't have shouted."

"Is your boat Skipper, so you get to do all the shouting" the first mate shrugged.

"We'll be heading back to port once this last catch is on board" the captain reassured his right hand man.

At the stern of the boat, the men gathered up the edges of the net as soon as is appeared over the transom. While the winch hooks were being attached, Mateo plotted the new course for home. Through the window he noticed that the bowsprit of the boat was barely visible thanks to the thickening mist. This worried Mateo because the Scotsmen had told him that during times like these, the fish stealers would come.

"What is it about those monster stories that has you so worked up?" the captain asked.

"It's two things Skipper" Mateo answered "Firstly when the men on the dock told me about the dangers of the fog, it did not sound like they were trying to scare me. Instead they talked as if they were giving good sage advice; like bend your knees when lifting, or don't light a match when filling the fuel tank."

"What was the second reason?"

"Some people I personally know have had the same experiences in fog banks off the coast of Spain in the winter time" Mateo admitted.

In a perfectly timed cliché, a distant roar echoed from somewhere deep in the clouds, giving no clue as to its direction or proximity. Both men looked to the obstructed sky as the small vessel twisted on the waves. The four men near the stern also stared into the fog as they slowly backed up towards the wheelhouse.

"What do you think you're doing" the captain barked "Get that catch into the hold; NOW!"

The men cautiously moved back to the net as it swung from the winch boom but when the first of them placed his hand on it, something large and dark red flashed by the mast. As is passed, the sound of its beating wings was followed by yet another, louder roar.

"W-what advice did the Scotsmen give you about what to do if... if err... if you..."

"They said drop everything, grab your rifle and lock you yourself below deck" Mateo answered "They also said if we were lucky, the beasts would only take the fish."

Feeling that discretion was definitely the better part of valour, the captain called his crew into the wheelhouse, where he unlocked the gun rack and handed each man a rifle or shotgun as they passed through and continued down the steps, into the hold. With everyone as safe as they could hope to be under the circumstances, Mateo pulled the half hatch shut and closed the louvered doors before locking them tight.

An oppressive silence hung in the air as each man sat in the dark and listened intently.

"What the hell was..." one of them whispered before being shushed by the others.

They heard the distant roar one more time before the bow of the boat suddenly pitched up, throwing the men back towards the steps. There could be no doubt about it; whatever the creature was, it had landed on the rear deck.

The small ship rocked and shuddered whenever the strange animal moved, but things became even more serious when they heard a second creature cry out. The first ones roar had sounded a like a cross between a crocodile and a tiger, but the new arrival sounded more like a giant bird of prey. The unfortunate men were tossed about as the two creatures fought over the net full of fish and the captain feared his boat could possibly be damaged to the point of sinking if the fight went on much longer. In less than a minute, the battle was over as second creature flew off with its prize, leaving the first to roar in frustration.

To everyones horror, the slighted creature sought compensation for its loss as it sniffed its way around the boat looking for something to take, and probably eat. All breathing ceased when they heard the sound of the wheelhouse door being broken down, closely followed by a purrish growl coming from just beyond the flimsy wooden hatch. Unable to control his curiosity, Mateo reached out and slowly twisted one of the door louvers in order to catch a glimpse of what was on the other side.

What he saw turned his skin white; it was big, red and it simmered like a tree trunk in the aftermath of a forest fire. Only the head was inside the wheelhouse as its body would not fit past the doorframe. As he stared helplessly through the slight crack, Mateo saw the beast retreat from the cabin when it found nothing to hold its interest. It did not fly away though, and the ship listed dangerously to starboard as the creature followed its nose up towards the bow.

All eyes turned towards the forward wall, which was actually one side of the fibreglass hold, brimming with the days catch. The huge fibreglass tub was built into the deck but the wooden hatch could not hope to stand against a creature of this size. Each man could hear the strange beast sniffing around to top hatch until with a mighty crash, the lid of the hold was completely torn off. The beast's claws also ripped a small hole in the deck about three inches across, allowing a shaft of light to come streaming into the men's hiding place. As their eyes became accustomed to the light, one of the deck hands saw the underside of the beast's neck and raised his shotgun to take aim.

"No!" Mateo grabbed the barrel and pushed it away.

The weapon discharged, sending a round of buckshot into the hull and catching the beast's full attention. It craned its neck around to bring one of its huge eyes in front of the hole, but as it blocked the light with its head, all it could see was a dark, black hole. Everyone below deck held their collective breaths as the creature watched and waited until at last, it lifted its head again before plunging its claws into the rim of the fish hold.

The noise was deafening as the beast started to beat its massive wings and a few seconds later, the entire fibreglass tub was ripped from the ship and carried away into the fog, leaving a hole two meters square in the forward deck.

"Why didn't you let me shoot it?" the furious deckhand barked.

"Couldn't you see how thick its hide was?" Mateo answered. "All you would have done was to make it angry, and who knows what it would have done then."

"Just look at damage those creatures did to my boat" the captain gasped.

"But what were they Skipper?" one of the other deck hands asked.

"Looked like some kind of leathery bird" he answered.

"More like a flying lizard" someone offered "Like one of them flying dinosaurs from millions of years ago."

"You may not have noticed, but this today and NOT millions of years ago" the captain grunted.

"You got a close look at it Mateo" the one with the shotgun said "What do you think it was?"

They whole group listened for an answer from their Spanish shipmate and although he did not want to answer, he knew they would not let up until he did.

"Based on what I saw in the wheelhouse..." he paused to gather some courage "...there is no doubt in my mind; ... it was a..."

"WHAT?" they all cried out.

"...a dragon."

* * *

 **And so I have to say goodbye again for a few months while I work on some other stories.**

 **Big thanks to Stripesicles222, Appleye2, midnightsky0612, Draco38 and Vin (who I sometimes mistakenly call Vim) along with a few Guests, for reviewing this tale. Thank you all for sticking with it.**

 **Marty :D**


End file.
